surreptitious adj

1 marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a lurking prowler"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch"; "someone skulking in the shadows" [syn: furtive, lurking, skulking, sneak(a), sneaky, stealthy]

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(a), hugger-mugger, hush-hush, on the quiet(p), secret, undercover, underground]

English

Etymology

From surrepticius.

Adjective

1. stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements)

Translations

Derived terms

• surreptitiously

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