surreptitious

American  

[sur-uhp-tish-uhs] / ˌsɜr əpˈtɪʃ əs /

adjective

1. obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine.

   a surreptitious glance.

2. acting in a stealthy way.

3. obtained by subreption; subreptitious.

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surreptitious British  

/ ˌsʌrəpˈtɪʃəs /

adjective

1. done, acquired, etc, in secret or by improper means

2. operating by stealth

3. characterized by fraud or misrepresentation of the truth

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Other Word Forms

• surreptitiously adverb
• surreptitiousness noun

Etymology

Origin of surreptitious

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin surreptīcius “stolen, clandestine,” equivalent to surrept(us), past participle of surripere “to steal,” ( sur- sur- ² + rep-, combining form of rapere “to snatch, plunder” ( rape ¹ ) + -tus past participle suffix) + -īcius adjective suffix ( -itious )

Explanation

When someone behaves in a surreptitious way, they're being secretive. They're doing something that they don't want to be seen doing. While surreptitious means secret, it has the added sense of "sneaky" or "hidden." During the Jewish Passover meal of Seder, an adult will surreptitiously place a piece of matzoh somewhere in the house for the children to hunt for later in the meal. You'll see surreptitious applied mostly to actions, rather than to things or ideas. We do things surreptitiously. The members of the secret society hold surreptitious meetings because, well, they're a secret society. I was very surreptitious in how I organized the surprise party: she never knew!

Example Sentences

On the job, I did my share of surreptitious video-watching and Twitter-scrolling and e-commercing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

A surreptitious change of bank details does not bode well for your mother’s estate planning.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 13, 2026

In a written statement, she claimed "The Mail's Unlawful Acts against me involve landline tapping my phones and recording my live telephone conversations, placing surreptitious mics on my home windows."

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

She alleges the Mail tapped her landlines and placed "surreptitious mics on my home windows" in an effort to get stories.

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026

Dad kept a sharp lookout for surreptitious painting, and was especially suspicious whenever one of the girls looked particularly pretty.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Related Words

• clandestine
• covert
• furtive
• hush-hush
• unauthorized