furtive

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adjective fur·tive \ ˈfər-tiv \

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

See furtive defined for English-language learners

See furtive defined for kids

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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

The story begins with its characters already in motion, and even those who go in cold will immediately sense, from the furtive precision of their movements and the play of blankness and anxiety on their faces, that something dangerous is afoot.

— justin chang, latimes.com, "Bertrand Bonello's 'Nocturama' is a haunting portrait of young French terrorists in action," 14 Aug. 2017
Error loading player: No playable sources found Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has the best furtive eye roll in the business.

— mary kaye schilling, Newsweek, "Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Goes to Prison, Playing a Gang Leader in the Harrowing 'Shot Caller'," 7 Aug. 2017
Word of the feline's furtive feat spread quickly among the guests.

— jim stingl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Stingl: Cat stows away for 800-mile trip on the spare tire under Racine family's SUV," 6 July 2017
These furtive video journalists became the backbone of the documentary Burma VJ, which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Documentary a year later.

— colin hinshelwood, Time, "The Arrest of Three Journalists Shows a Disturbing Lack of Press Freedom in Democratic Myanmar," 6 July 2017
Harry is on a desperate mission, and soon Marianne and Paul’s bliss has been rather violently commandeered by wandering glances and furtive caresses.

— kathryn shattuck, New York Times, "What’s on TV Saturday: ‘Loving’ and ‘Doctor Who’," 1 July 2017
To this day, Hong Kong remains the sole place on Chinese soil where citizens can march and speak and publish freely, and where discussions of the Tiananmen massacre can be full-throated rather than furtive.

— anna diamond, The Atlantic, "Hong Kong’s Handover and Canada’s Unsung Anthem: The Week in Global-Affairs Writing," 30 June 2017
Barring Americans from stepping foot in North Korea would mark the latest U.S. step to isolate the furtive, nuclear-armed nation, and protect U.S. citizens who may be allured by the prospect of traveling there.

— josh lederman, The Seattle Times, "After Warmbier’s death, US weighs travel ban on North Korea," 20 June 2017
More like furtive, despite an implied invitation to stare openly.

— carla meyer, sacbee.com, "‘Breastaurant’ Twin Peaks isn’t known for its menu, but we sent our food critic anyway," 9 June 2017

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

See Words from the same year

furtive Synonyms

Synonyms

sneaky, shady, shifty, slippery, sly, sneaking, stealthy

Antonyms

open, overt, public

Near Antonyms

aboveboard, forthright, plainspoken, straightforward; candid, direct, foursquare, frank, open, plain; honest, trustworthy, truthful

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.