Meanings
comparative more surreptitious · superlative most surreptitious
- Stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).
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.
1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC1 more example
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].
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 260–261Synonyms: covert
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveStealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivemarked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
adjectiveconducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsurrēptīcius“furtive, clandestine”
- Englishsurreptitious
Borrowed from Latin surrēptīcius (“furtive, clandestine”), from surrēpō (“to creep along”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian прикрит, таен
- прикрит (prikrit)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- таен (taen)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- подмолен (podmolen)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Catalan subreptici, clandestí
- subrepticistealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- clandestístealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- furtiustealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Chinese Mandarin 偷偷的, 偷偷摸摸
- 偷偷的 (tōutōu de)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- 偷偷摸摸 (tōutōumōmō)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Czech tajný, skrytý
- tajnýstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- skrytýstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- utajovanýstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- tutlanýstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- ututlanýstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Danish hemmelig, skjult
- hemmeligstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- skjultstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- fordæktstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- dulgtstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Dutch heimelijk, steels
- heimelijkstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- steelsstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- verdokenstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- verdektstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- stiekemstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Finnish salainen, salamyhkäinen
- salainenstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- salamyhkäinenstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
French furtif, subreptice
- furtifstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- subrepticestealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
German heimlich, verdeckt
- heimlichstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- verdecktstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- verstohlenstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- betrügerischstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- erschlichenstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Hungarian alattomos
- alattomosstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Icelandic laumulegur, í laumi
- laumulegurstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- í laumistealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- leynilegurstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Italian surrettizio, subdolo
- surrettiziostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- subdolostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- furbescostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- furtivostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Māori whakahewa
- whakahewastealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Norwegian Bokmål skjult, dulgt
- skjultstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- dulgtstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- fordektstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- hemmeligstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Polish ukradkowy, dyskretny
- ukradkowystealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- dyskretnystealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Portuguese sub-reptício, furtivo
- sub-reptíciostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- furtivostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Russian та́йный, скры́тый
- та́йный (tájnyj)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- скры́тый (skrýtyj)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Spanish subrepticio
- subrepticiostealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Swedish dold
- doldstealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Ukrainian таємний, потайний
- таємний (tajemnyj)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
- потайний (potajnyj)stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with surreptitious
Cite this entry
surreptitious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surreptitious
“surreptitious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surreptitious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surreptitious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surreptitious.
Source: surreptitious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.