furtive

adjective

fur·​tive ˈfər-tiv 

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

furtively adverb

furtiveness noun

Did you know?

You can’t steal someone’s heart without capturing their attention, nor can you steal someone’s thunder without hijacking their audience’s attention. But attention is something most thieves would rather avoid; whether stealing a glance or a diamond, one must be furtive or risk getting caught in the act. When first used in written English in the early 1600s, furtive meant "done by stealth." It later adopted the less common meaning "stolen" or "obtained underhandedly." Whichever meaning you choose, the word has a fittingly elusive ancestry, either stepping into English via the French furtif or coming directly from that word's ancestor, the Latin furtivus, itself a descendent of fur, meaning "thief."

Synonyms

• shady
• shifty
• slippery
• sly
• sneaking
• sneaky
• stealthy

Choose the Right Synonym for furtive

secret, covert, stealthy, furtive, clandestine, surreptitious, underhanded mean done without attracting observation.

secret implies concealment on any grounds for any motive.

met at a secret location

covert stresses the fact of not being open or declared.

covert intelligence operations

stealthy suggests taking pains to avoid being seen or heard especially in some misdoing.

the stealthy step of a burglar

furtive implies a sly or cautious stealthiness.

lovers exchanging furtive glances

clandestine implies secrecy usually for an evil, illicit, or unauthorized purpose and often emphasizes the fear of being discovered.

a clandestine meeting of conspirators

surreptitious applies to action or behavior done secretly often with skillful avoidance of detection and in violation of custom, law, or authority.

the surreptitious stockpiling of weapons

underhanded stresses fraud or deception.

an underhanded trick

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 on the Web

His squirrelly, strained voice was well attuned to the furtive ambivalence of his stage presence. —Rolling Stone, 16 June 2025

The visual language is nimble, sometimes furtive and obscuring, and then classical and dramatic, recalling the photography of Robert Frank or Roy DeCarava. —Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 June 2025

These kind furtive exchanges litter A Pale View of Hills, Kei Ishikawa’s overly careful adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel of the same name. —Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 18 May 2025

In this setting, the episode shifts between covert conversations, furtive looks, confrontations behind doors, and everything in between. —Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for furtive

• assertive

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Kids Definition

furtive

adjective

fur·​tive ˈfərt-iv 

: done in a sneaky or sly manner

a furtive look

furtively adverb

furtiveness noun