Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality of being furtive

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a disposition to be sly and stealthy and to do things surreptitiously

Etymologies

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Examples

  • They had been carrying on their Tuesday morning affair for almost two years now and though Mr Malik had never had an affair, he supposed that a certain furtiveness was necessary to achieve full satisfaction in these things.

    Excerpt: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson 2008

  • At that moment she saw Gil Huntley beckoning to her with a frantic kind of furtiveness that was a fair mixture of pinched-together eyebrows and slight jerkings of the head, and a guarded movement of his hand that hung at his side.

    Jean of the Lazy A 1915

  • Competition in exploration often develops an atmosphere of suspicion and furtiveness which is highly unfavorable to coöperative efforts.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • At that moment she saw Gil Huntley beckoning to her with a frantic kind of furtiveness that was a fair mixture of pinched-together eyebrows and slight jerkings of the head, and a guarded movement of his hand that hung at his side.

    Jean of the Lazy A B. M. Bower 1905

  • This furtiveness is not helpful in a time of high public anxiety.

    Now for the Slaughter Peggy Noonan 2010

  • This furtiveness is not helpful in a time of high public anxiety.

    Now for the Slaughter Peggy Noonan 2010

  •      As for single women, I suppose less furtiveness means less shock.

    Chicagoo 2010

  • This furtiveness is not helpful in a time of high public anxiety.

    Now for the Slaughter Peggy Noonan 2010

  • This furtiveness is not helpful in a time of high public anxiety.

    Now for the Slaughter Peggy Noonan 2010

  • This furtiveness is not helpful in a time of high public anxiety.

    Now for the Slaughter Peggy Noonan 2010

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