Meanings
comparative more furtively · superlative most furtively
- In a furtive manner.
And furtively Time looked him in the face and edged towards him fingering with his dripping fingers the hilt of his nimble sword.
1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 41 more example
The only diversions I recall were a pair of Avocets flying over, and a young lady who regularly each afternoon furtively crept into the dunes [...] and crouched down for a clandestine wee!
1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 128Synonyms: secretively, surreptitiously
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a furtive manner.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbin a furtive manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishfurtyvely
- Englishfurtively
From Middle English furtyvely; equivalent to furtive + -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan furtivament
- furtivamentin a furtive manner
Chinese Mandarin 偷偷
- 偷偷 (tōutōu)in a furtive manner
Czech kradmo, skrytě
- kradmoin a furtive manner
- skrytěin a furtive manner
- nenápadněin a furtive manner
Esperanto ŝtele
- ŝtelein a furtive manner
Finnish vaivihkaa, vaivihkaisesti
- vaivihkaain a furtive manner
- vaivihkaisestiin a furtive manner
French furtivement, subrepticement
- furtivementin a furtive manner
- subrepticementin a furtive manner
Japanese ひそかに
- ひそかに (hisoka ni)in a furtive manner
Polish ukradkiem, chyłkiem
- ukradkiemin a furtive manner
- chyłkiemin a furtive manner
- potajemniein a furtive manner
- cichaczemin a furtive manner
- skryciein a furtive manner
- tajemniein a furtive manner
- ukradkowoin a furtive manner
Russian скры́тно, укра́дкой
- скры́тно (skrýtno)in a furtive manner
- укра́дкой (ukrádkoj)in a furtive manner
- тайко́м (tajkóm)in a furtive manner
- та́йно (tájno)in a furtive manner
Spanish furtivamente, a hurtadillas
- furtivamentein a furtive manner
- a hurtadillasin a furtive manner
- a furtoin a furtive manner
Cite this entry
furtively. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furtively
“furtively.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furtively. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “furtively,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/furtively.
Source: furtively on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.