Standard Lemma guide

surreptitiously

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /sʌɹəpˈtɪʃəsli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S ER2 AH0 P T IH1 SH AH0 S L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a surreptitious manner; stealthily, furtively, secretly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: furtively, secretly, stealthily

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

in a surreptitious manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he was watching her surreptitiously as she waited in the hotel lobby

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sneakily

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English surreptitious Middle English -ly English -ly English surreptitiously From surreptitious + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: gizli — in a surreptitious manner
  • Bulgarian: скришом (skrišom) — in a surreptitious manner
  • Bulgarian: крадешком (kradeškom) — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: subreptíciament — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: d'amagat — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: d'amagatotis — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: celadament — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: furtivament — in a surreptitious manner
  • Catalan: amagadament — in a surreptitious manner
  • Czech: tajně — in a surreptitious manner
  • Czech: skrytě — in a surreptitious manner
  • Czech: potají — in a surreptitious manner
  • Danish: hemmeligt — in a surreptitious manner
  • Dutch: clandestien — in a surreptitious manner
  • Dutch: heimelijk — in a surreptitious manner
  • Finnish: vaivihkaa — in a surreptitious manner
  • Finnish: salaa — in a surreptitious manner
  • French: subrepticement — in a surreptitious manner
  • French: furtivement — in a surreptitious manner
  • German: heimlich — in a surreptitious manner
  • Irish: gan fhios — in a surreptitious manner
  • Italian: furtivamente — in a surreptitious manner
  • Italian: di nascosto — in a surreptitious manner
  • Northern Kurdish: bi dizîkî — in a surreptitious manner
  • Northern Kurdish: bi nehînî — in a surreptitious manner
  • Northern Kurdish: bi razberî — in a surreptitious manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: i smug — in a surreptitious manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: i skjul — in a surreptitious manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: i løyndom — in a surreptitious manner
  • Persian: محرمانه (mahramāne) — in a surreptitious manner
  • Polish: ukradkowo — in a surreptitious manner
  • Polish: ukradkiem — in a surreptitious manner
  • Polish: dyskretnie — in a surreptitious manner
  • Portuguese: sub-repticiamente — in a surreptitious manner
  • Portuguese: furtivamente — in a surreptitious manner
  • Portuguese: disfarçadamente — in a surreptitious manner
  • Romanian: pe ascuns — in a surreptitious manner
  • Romanian: pe furiș — in a surreptitious manner
  • Russian: тайко́м (tajkóm) — in a surreptitious manner
  • Serbo-Croatian: potajice — in a surreptitious manner
  • Somali: sir — in a surreptitious manner
  • Spanish: subrepticiamente — in a surreptitious manner
  • Spanish: a hurtadillas — in a surreptitious manner
  • Spanish: callando — in a surreptitious manner
  • Spanish: callandito — in a surreptitious manner
  • Swedish: i smyg — in a surreptitious manner
  • Turkish: gizli — in a surreptitious manner
  • Turkish: gizlice — in a surreptitious manner
  • Turkish: el altından — in a surreptitious manner