stealthy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stealthy
Explanation
Use the adjective stealthy to describe something or someone that is marked by secrecy, even sneakiness. Ninjas are stealthy, moving quietly and cautiously, which makes them excellent spies. When something is done in a stealthy way, the motivation is almost always to escape from being noticed. If your cat is walking so lightly that you can’t hear her footsteps, she's not necessarily being stealthy on purpose, she’s just a graceful cat. However, if you see your cat creeping forward toward a mouse, trying not to scare it away before she can pounce, then she's definitely being stealthy.
Vocabulary lists containing stealthy
List 1
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"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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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.
Out of fear of repercussions, many women - and even men - are opting for what they call "stealthy feminism".
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
But he has his own stealthy sense of humor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
The showrunner of the Angeles National Forest isn’t a 500-pound black bear or a stealthy mountain lion.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
The rule serves an important purpose, the judge said, in preventing stealthy takeovers on the cheap.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Nature had come into her own again and, little by little, in her stealthy, insidious way had encroached upon the drive with long tenacious fingers.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
