surreptitious
[sur-uh p-tish-uh s]
- obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.
- acting in a stealthy way.
- obtained by subreption; subreptitious.
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Origin of surreptitious
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for surreptitiously
Contemporary Examples
Egan claims he was forced to consume alcohol and drugs, while drugs were also surreptitiously added to drinks he consumed.
Then, shuffling, she surreptitiously grabs the one he chose with her mouth while pretending to cut the deck.
A man sat opposite her, took out his phone, and surreptitiously photographed her eating.
Before breaking her heart a second time, he surreptitiously mined intimate details from her life to include in the tale.
His surreptitiously recorded "47 percent" remarks were the perfect expression of radical Tea Party ideology.
Historical Examples
The best of them he contrived to deal with himself, secretly and surreptitiously.
The ManxmanHall Caine
Surreptitiously Naomi pinched her hip till it felt black and blue.
Tree, Spare that WoodmanDave Dryfoos
As softly and as surreptitiously as it begins to rain on a cloudy day, she was crying.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
He and his wife were taking lessons from Prue surreptitiously at their own home.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
Why, indeed, was she back in England surreptitiously, and in that neighbourhood?
The Doctor of PimlicoWilliam Le Queux
surreptitious
- done, acquired, etc, in secret or by improper means
- operating by stealth
- characterized by fraud or misrepresentation of the truth
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin surreptīcius furtive, from surripere to steal, from sub- secretly + rapere to snatch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for surreptitiously
surreptitious
adj.
mid-15c., from Latin surrepticius "stolen, furtive, clandestine," from surreptus, past participle of surripere "seize secretly," from sub "from under" (hence, "secretly") + rapere "to snatch" (see rapid). Related: Surreptitiously.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper