furtive

adjective fur·tive \ ˈfər-tiv \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

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Examples: furtive in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of furtive

1 a : done in a quiet and secretive way to avoid being noticed : surreptitious

a furtive glance

exchanged furtive smiles

b : expressive of stealth : sly

had a furtive look about him

2 : obtained underhandedly : stolen

furtive gains

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furtively

adverb

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furtiveness

noun

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Examples of furtive in a Sentence

This means that they need use only quantum mechanics or only general relativity and can, with a furtive glance, shrug off the barking admonition of the other. —Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe, 1999
Fall's pleasures were furtive, risky, short-lived-buckeye fights, … the endless recipes for the apples Mrs. Railsbeck asked him to fetch from the cobwebbed crate in the basement. —Stewart O'Nan, The Names of the Dead, 1996
… it made Shepherd look furtive, wary, hunted—as if the photographer had shot him against his will, in the act of slamming the door. —Helen Garner, The First Stone, 1995
He cast a furtive glance in our direction.
We exchanged furtive smiles across the table.

Recent Examples of furtive from the Web

Forty-five years later, Ms. Haspel is attempting to move into an unusually public role—the first woman to head the CIA—while the agency strives to continue protecting elements of her decadeslong furtive career.

— nancy a. youssef, WSJ, "CIA Fills In Some Blanks on Gina Haspel’s Secret Life," 22 Mar. 2018
In the tunnel before kickoff there was a furtive glance across to Salah, but the showdown between the world player of the year and a contender for his throne never materialized.

— rob harris, BostonGlobe.com, "Real Madrid tops Liverpool to win third straight Champions League title," 26 May 2018
In the tunnel before kickoff there was a furtive glance across to Salah, but the showdown between the world player of the year and a contender for his throne never materialized.

— rob harris, Houston Chronicle, "Gareth Bale's scissor-kick gives Real Madrid 3rd straight European title," 26 May 2018
In the tunnel before kickoff there was a furtive glance across to Salah, but the showdown between the world player of the year and a contender for his throne never materialized.

— rob harris, courant.com, "Bale's Scissor-Kick Gives Madrid 3rd Straight European Title," 26 May 2018
And all at once the stage is aflutter with violence, and the tale becomes a verdict on a society where reliance upon rank, and continuous furtive money-grubbing, can no longer keep body and soul together.

— dan hofstadter, WSJ, "Longing, Violence and Social Rank," 25 May 2018
As Benjamin, the only white male in the office, is about to ascend, his coworkers take turns airing grievances, offering him congratulations, sneaking in final furtive trysts, and wondering aloud about the injustices of their respective fates.

— dmitry samarov, Chicago Reader, "Refrigerator is a chilling look into the near future," 25 May 2018
As Khannah flashed it on a screen with a projector, the five members of his team stole furtive glances at one another, nervous that Balwani might become wise to the prank.

— john carreyrou, WIRED, "A New Look Inside Theranos’ Dysfunctional Corporate Culture," 21 May 2018
The smoke from frat boy cigars, unregulated cigarettes and a few furtive reefers rose to the rafters.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "Jazz Fest 2018: Thinking of Charles Neville," 6 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'furtive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Furtive has a shadowy history. It may have slipped into English directly from Latin or it may have covered its tracks by arriving via French. (The French furtif derived from the Latin furtivus.) But however "furtive" got into English, the Latin word fur, meaning "thief," is at the root. "Fur" is related to, and may come from, the Greek phōr, which also means "thief." When first used in English in the early 17th century, "furtive" carried a meaning of "done in a way so as not to be seen," though later it also came to mean, less commonly, "stolen." Whichever meaning you choose, the elusive ancestry of "furtive" is particularly fitting, since a thief must be furtive to avoid getting caught in the act!

Origin and Etymology of furtive

French or Latin; French furtif, from Latin furtivus, from furtum theft, from fur thief, from or akin to Greek phōr thief; akin to Greek pherein to carry — more at bear

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1612

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

furtive Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of furtive

secret, covert, stealthy, furtive, clandestine, surreptitious, underhanded mean done without attracting observation. secret implies concealment on any grounds for any motive.