surreptitious
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin surrēptīcius (“furtive, clandestine”), from surrēpō (“to creep along”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˌsʌɹɪpˈtɪʃəs/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /səˌɹɜpˈtɪʃəs/, /ˌsʌɹəpˈtɪʃəs/, /ˌsɜɹəpˈtɪʃəs/
- Rhymes: -ɪʃəs
Adjective
surreptitious (comparative more surreptitious, superlative most surreptitious)
- Stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest[1]:
- He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
- 1998, Lee A. Bygrave, “Data Protection Pursuant to the Right to Privavy in Human Rights Treaties”, in International Journal of Law and Information Technology, volume 6, number 3, pages 260–261:
- It is also worth noting the case law on prisoners' correspondence which establishes that interception of a person's communications need not be surreptitious in order to amount to an interference with respect to Art 8 (1) [ECHR].
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:covert