stealthy
Americanadjective
-
stealthier,
comparative
-
stealthiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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.
See Examples For:
It could engender pride and joy at your stealthy maneuvers, indifference, resentment or using the friendship as collateral for a loan.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
The seamless integration of old and new feels stealthy, and a touch subversive, a doubling-down on the museum’s approach to time as nonlinear, sinuous and delightfully slippery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Out of fear of repercussions, many women - and even men - are opting for what they call "stealthy feminism".
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
As a result, nights out tend to wind down earlier and the need for a stealthy exit arises less often.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
In a series of calls from a phone booth at the beach, Oliphant arranged a stealthy meeting between a Globe reporter and one of Ellsberg’s people on the streets of Boston.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Iran has a clear geopolitical motive and a history of targeting the water sector, and the fact that the attacks were readily detected makes a stealthier adversary like China less likely, Kaiser said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Rather than chase him, authorities came up with another — stealthier — plan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
A stealthier and less obvious plan would be financial repression, in which interest rates are held down below the rate of nominal growth of the economy, which consists of real growth plus inflation.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
But with Griner detained in Russia, her whereabouts and specific details on how she is faring relayed only to an inner circle of friends, family and advisers, the league is taking a stealthier approach.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2022
“Your father’s a very practical man. No, we need something stealthier than a pool.”
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
“The marriage of sensibilities in front of and behind the camera is the stealthiest meeting in ‘Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros,’ and the most unexpectedly satisfying.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
The concept with the Columbias is to not only architect something that will be upgraded to accommodate new nuclear missiles as they emerge, but also to construct the stealthiest submarine ever to exist.
From Fox News ● Nov. 11, 2020
I didn’t realize I was being noisy, of course, but from then on I’ve tried to be the stealthiest of note-takers.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2015
Described as the stealthiest ever built in the UK, the £1bn boat was being put through sea trials and was not armed.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2010
Just one of Gebu’s heavy footfalls—even at his stealthiest they were audible—and the whole household would be shouting the alarm.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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.
