furtive
Adjective Satellite
- marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
- "a furtive manner"
- secret and sly or sordid; ; - A.L.Guerard
- "furtive behavior"
Adj
- Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.
- Of a thing: that has been acquired by theft; stolen; also (generally) taken stealthily.
- Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.
- Of a person, etc.: inclined to steal; pilfering, thieving.
Adjective
- Done in a quiet, secretive way to avoid notice.
Examples
- He made a furtive glance at his opponent’s tile rack, hoping to glean some information.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English *furtyve (implied in furtyvely (adverb)), from Middle French furtif, furtive (“furtive, stealthy”) (modern French furtif), from Latin fūrtīvus (“clandestine, furtive, secret; concealed, hidden; stolen”), from fūrtum (“theft; robbery”) (from fūr (“thief”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives).
Synonyms
backstair, backstairs, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, abstruse, behind the scenes, catlike, clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, concealed, confidential, covert, deep-laid, dern, disguised, furtive, huggermugger, hush-hush, incognito, inconspicuous, low profile, lurksome, lurky, mousy, obfuscated, off-the-books, on the down-low, on the sly, secret, secretive, slinky, sly, sub rosa, thieflike, thievish, under the radar, under wraps, under-the-table, undercover, underground, unperceived
Scrabble Score: 13
furtive: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordfurtive: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
furtive: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary