Adjacent Words

Surreptitious definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SURREPTI'TIOUS, a. [L. surreptitius, supra.] Done by stealth or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; as a surreptitious passage in a manuscript.
A correct copy of the Dunciad, the many surreptitious ones have rendered necessary.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch" [syn: furtive, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious]
2: conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover, underground]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin surrepticius, from surreptus, past participle of surripere to snatch secretly, from sub- + rapere to seize — more at rapid Date: 15th century 1. done, made, or acquired by stealth ; clandestine 2. acting or doing something clandestinely ; stealthy <a surreptitious glance> Synonyms: see secret • surreptitiously adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 covert; kept secret. 2 done by stealth; clandestine. Derivatives: surreptitiously adv. surreptitiousness n. Etymology: ME f. L surrepticius -itius f. surripere surrept- (as SUR-(1), rapere seize)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Surreptitious Sur`rep*ti"tious, a. [L. surreptitius, or subreptitius, fr. surripere, subripere, to snatch away, to withdraw privily; sub- under + rapere to snatch. See Sub-, and Ravish.] Done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; clandestine; stealthy; as, a surreptitious passage in an old manuscript; a surreptitious removal of goods. -- Sur`rep*ti"tious*ly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

A surreptitious action is done secretly. He made a surreptitious entrance to the club through the little door in the brick wall... = furtive ADJ • surreptitiously Surreptitiously Mark looked at his watch. ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Fraudulently introduced, foisted in, done by stealth.

Moby Thesaurus

artful, back-door, backstairs, calculating, chiseling, clandestine, collusive, concealed, covert, covinous, crafty, cunning, deceitful, doggo, false, falsehearted, feline, finagling, fraudulent, furtive, guileful, hidden, hidden out, hidlings, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, in ambush, in hiding, in the wings, indirect, insidious, lurking, on the sly, on tiptoe, private, privy, prowling, pussyfoot, pussyfooted, quiet, scheming, secret, secretive, sharp, shifty, skulking, slinking, slinky, slippery, sly, sneaking, sneaky, stealing, stealthy, treacherous, trickish, tricky, two-faced, under cover, under-the-counter, under-the-table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, unobtrusive, veiled, waiting concealed, wily