Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Characterized by, acting with, or suggesting stealth or a desire to avoid discovery; surreptitious: synonym: secret.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Stolen; obtained by theft.
- Stealthy; thief-like.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
stealthy - adjective Exhibiting
guilty orevasive secrecy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
- adjective secret and sly or sordid
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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She must have heard my steps on the wood stairs, because by the time I walked through the door, she was sitting on the floor near the bed, looking at me with an expression of furtive innocence.
Red Flags or Red Herrings? Susan Engel 2011
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She must have heard my steps on the wood stairs, because by the time I walked through the door, she was sitting on the floor near the bed, looking at me with an expression of furtive innocence.
Red Flags or Red Herrings? Susan Engel 2011
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Every now and then, a sister slid grey and furtive from the side gate to hand over coins to buy not acarajé but a pink-and-white striped bag bulging with peeled chunks of sugar cane.
BRASIL AS A GIRL Maggie Jochild 2007
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Re-search Department at the Foreign Office, and engaged in furtive adulteries.
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While the relationship was private, it can hardly be called furtive or clandestine.
Jefferson's Concubine Morgan, Edmund S. 2008
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He bristled now, recalling their furtive trysts in the woods.
Covenant Lewis, Beverly 2002
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In the light of after events, well did Slavin and Yorke recall the furtive appealing glance the hobo threw at Gully; well did they also remember certain of Kilbride's words: "There'll be quite a lot of things crop up in our minds that we'll be wondering we never thought of before."
The Luck of the Mounted A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Ralph S. Kendall
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I may say that I was quite startled by his manner which I can only describe as furtive and uneasy.
Death of a Peer Marsh, Ngaio, 1895-1982 1940
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If we see this kind of furtive activity in our midst, we are going to be the one pulling guns out of holsters.
Yuna Shin: "Ground Zero Mosque:" Politics of Fear and Persecution Assail American Character 2010
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New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly sent many scrambling when he used "furtive" — meaning "done by stealth," derived from furs, the Latin word for thief — to describe how the Times Square bomber looked in surveillance footage.
Our 'Pragmatic,' 'Ebullient' Year of 'Austerity' Andrew Flynn 2010
Telofy commented on the word furtive
Amazed to hear it in Emilie Autumn’s Gothic Lolita.
December 18, 2009
Arthurpod commented on the word furtive
"In the twilight, he sensed his peril sneaking furtively closer to him, though he did not know what it was."
Lord Foul's Bane
July 29, 2012
bladek9 commented on the word furtive
"The boat hadn’t any mirrors but the house had several that captured my furtive self moving as if to avoid detection."
Lief Enger, I Cheerfully Refuse (17.10)
July 9, 2024