Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Marked by or acting with quiet, caution, and secrecy intended to avoid notice. synonym: secret.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Acting by stealth; sly; secretive in act or manner; employing concealed methods: as, a stealthy foe; characterized by concealment; furtive: as, a stealthy proceeding; a stealthy movement.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Done by stealth; accomplished clandestinely; unperceived; secret; furtive; sly.

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

  • adjective Characterized by or resembling stealth or 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

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stealthy.

Examples

  • My neighbor snowmobiles and a couple years ago had an encounter where the wolves had killed a deer on the trail and did not seem very afraid at all when they took off within sight. (and how stealthy is a group of snowmobiles?)

    Wolves? 2010

  • On the other hand, 09Droid could have rather easily programmed in stealthy code to silently steal account log-ins.

    Google removes banking apps from Android Marketplace 2010

  • My neighbor snowmobiles and a couple years ago had an encounter where the wolves had killed a deer on the trail and did not seem very afraid at all when they took off within sight. (and how stealthy is a group of snowmobiles?)

    Wolves? 2010

  • Some woman's arm and hand has preceded mine in stealthy search after that fatal spring.

    The Filigree Ball 1903

  • Active reconnaissance operations are also classified as stealthy or aggressive, as discussed in the following paragraphs.

    FM 71-1 Chapter 5 Other Tactical Operations United States Army 1998

  • Instantly he recalled the stealthy Indians that the boys had seen the previous day, and he sensed immediate danger.

    Some Three Hundred Years Ago Edith Gilman Brewster

  • He did not stoop, but he bent rather forwards; his mode of walking was peculiar, and rather like that of a cat, but of a cat that was well acquainted with the ground it was moving over; the step showed no doubt or apprehension, it could hardly be called stealthy, but it glided on firmly and cautiously, without haste, or swagger, or unevenness ....

    Victorian Worthies Sixteen Biographies George Henry Blore

  • His manner might have been called stealthy, if one were looking for stealth.

    The Thunder Bird B. M. Bower 1905

  • The BrahMos, which has been described as a stealthy cruise missile that can deliver a 200 kg payload to a target 290 km away at speeds exceeding 2.8 Mach, has been in service with the Navy and was inducted into the Army in 2007.

    Bloggers.Pakistan 2009

  • The Journal says experts believe the pictures show an aircraft designed to be "stealthy," or difficult to detect on radar, what is known as a 'fifth generation' fighter.

    Pentagon Not Concerned About New Chinese Jet 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.