surreptitious

4 definitions found

surreptitious - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Surreptitious \Sur`rep*ti"tious\, a. [L. surreptitius, or
     subreptitius, fr. surripere, subripere, to snatch away, to
     withdraw privily; sub- under + rapere to snatch. See Sub-,
     and Ravish.]
     Done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or
     introduced fraudulently; clandestine; stealthy; as, a
     surreptitious passage in an old manuscript; a surreptitious
     removal of goods. -- Sur`rep*ti"tious*ly, adv.
     [1913 Webster]

surreptitious - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  surreptitious
      adj 1: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to
             avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a sneak
             attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at
             his watch" [syn: furtive, sneak(a), sneaky,
             stealthy, surreptitious]
      2: conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods;
         "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger
         activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue";
         "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms";
         "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover
         investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine,
         cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner(a), hugger-mugger,
         hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover,
         underground]

surreptitious - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  SURREPTITIOUS. That which is done in a fraudulent stealthy manner. 
  
  

surreptitious - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "surreptitious":
     artful, back-door, backstairs, calculating, chiseling, clandestine,
     collusive, concealed, covert, covinous, crafty, cunning, deceitful,
     doggo, false, falsehearted, feline, finagling, fraudulent, furtive,
     guileful, hidden, hidden out, hidlings, hole-and-corner,
     hugger-mugger, hush-hush, in ambush, in hiding, in the wings,
     indirect, insidious, lurking, on the sly, on tiptoe, private,
     privy, prowling, pussyfoot, pussyfooted, quiet, scheming, secret,
     secretive, sharp, shifty, skulking, slinking, slinky, slippery,
     sly, sneaking, sneaky, stealing, stealthy, treacherous, trickish,
     tricky, two-faced, under cover, under-the-counter, under-the-table,
     undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, unobtrusive,
     veiled, waiting concealed, wily