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• stealth
  stealth

  noun

  secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.
• Stealth
  Stealth

  noun

  (modifier) denoting or referring to technology that aims to reduce the radar, thermal, and acoustic recognizability of aircraft and missiles

stealth

American  

[stelth] / stɛlθ /

noun

1. secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.

2. a furtive departure or entrance.

3. Obsolete.

   1. an act of stealing; theft.

   2. the thing stolen; booty.

4. Military. Stealth, a U.S. Air Force project involving a range of technologies, with the purpose of developing aircraft that are difficult to detect by sight, sound, radar, and infrared energy.

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adjective

1. not openly acknowledged; surreptitious; secret.

   They used underhand methods such as the stealth hiring of a competitor's CEO.

   Spending cuts are the stealth issue of this presidential race.

2. (of a transgender person) living as a cisgender member of one's identified gender, without revealing that one is transgender.

   For some transgender people, being stealth may be the safest option.

stealth ¹ British  

/ stɛlθ /

noun

1. the act or characteristic of moving with extreme care and quietness, esp so as to avoid detection

   the stealth of a cat

2. cunning or underhand procedure or dealing

3. archaic the act of stealing

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Stealth ² British  

/ stɛlθ /

noun

1. informal (modifier) denoting or referring to technology that aims to reduce the radar, thermal, and acoustic recognizability of aircraft and missiles

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Usage

What does stealth mean? Stealth is a specific way of acting or moving that is intended to be secret or of avoiding detection, as in The cat used its stealth to sneak up on the unsuspecting mouse. Stealth is also used to describe something that is secret or is trying to avoid detection, as in The thieves organized a stealth meeting, away from the watchful eyes of the detectives. The adjectives stealthful and stealthy are used to describe something that uses stealth, as in The stealthy fox managed to avoid getting caught by the farmer’s dogs. Stealthily and stealthfully are used to describe something done with stealth, as in Santa Claus stealthily slipped the Christmas presents into the stockings to avoid waking the children.  Example: The spy used cunning and stealth to sneak into the embassy and smuggle out the documents. 

Other Word Forms

• stealthful
  adjective
• stealthless
  adjective
• stealthfully
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of stealth

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English stelthe, stelth; compare Old English stælthing “theft”; see steal, -th ¹

Explanation

Stealth means sneakiness. When you do something with stealth, you do it so quietly and carefully that no one notices. You might admire the stealth of your cat when she sneaks up on a mouse. Stealth and steal come from the same root word and were once used to mean the same thing. While stealth remains a useful quality for stealing, its definition has evolved to describe anything done quietly or in secret. For example, a stealth bomber is an aircraft that's hard to detect by radar, so it can sneak up without being noticed. Or if you plan a birthday party by stealth, then the guest of honor will be pleasantly surprised.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stealth Stealth

Not surprisingly, he is plucked for a covert mission that involves photographing secret Soviet bases from a tricked-out stealth jet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Perhaps, if the Navy had moved away from large aircraft carriers and more toward small ships that could attack with speed and stealth along shorelines.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Fast forward a fortnight amid some very rapid and painful deleveraging, and the index now stands at 6813 after a stealth rally of 21%.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Each F-35B, the variant of the stealth fighter jet with vertical takeoff and landing capability, costs about $109 million, according to maker Lockheed Martin.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

She slipped the paper out of the baroness’s sleep-loosened fist with perfect stealth.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

This year, Medtronic received FDA clearance for the new Stealth AXiS Spine External link application to brain surgery procedures.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

Stealth drones were also thought to have been deployed.

From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026

Appeared in the October 28, 2025, print edition as 'New York’s Annual Stealth Tax Increase'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

If the government doesn’t allow them to go to school, they can watch YouTube videos, read online books and take virtual classes when the Stealth Sisters program ends, she tells her students.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2023

"Bingo! When you came to the kitchen you said you were invisible, and you are. But what does that mean? You know the Stealth Bomber? The Air Force calls that plane invisible. Well, is it?"

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements