stealthily
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stealthily
Explanation
If you move stealthily, you do not want to be seen or felt. A cat moves stealthily when it approaches a mouse. Stealthily is the adverb form of stealth: Think stealth bomber, that miraculous, if flawed, creation of the American military that was supposed to escape detection, including being nearly invisible on radar. We often think of hunters as moving stealthily. They sneak up on their prey, soundlessly. Originally, the word implied that you were looking to rob or steal something, which makes sense: this term is all about being secretive and undetected. Clumsy people have trouble doing things stealthily.
Vocabulary lists containing stealthily
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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The Giver
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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some coding tools, including Cursor, were initially blocked and employees were using them stealthily.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
When the autumnal Second Quintet began, the two eloquent Philharmonic violas were ready to stealthily underscore a work of profound lyric restraint.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025
Evidence at trial showed that NSO Group reverse-engineered WhatsApp code to stealthily install spyware targeting users, according to the ruling.
From Barron's • Oct. 18, 2025
Every month, you stealthily realize you’re in the process of losing more and more.
From Salon • Sep. 30, 2024
On the edge of sleep a new sound jerked me awake, the sound of footsteps, I thought, moving stealthily on gravel.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
