Synonym Chooser

How is the word clandestine distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of clandestine are covert, furtive, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, and underhanded. While all these words mean "done without attracting observation," clandestine implies secrecy usually for an evil, illicit, or unauthorized purpose and often emphasizes the fear of being discovered.

a clandestine meeting of conspirators

When is it sensible to use covert instead of clandestine?

The words covert and clandestine can be used in similar contexts, but covert stresses the fact of not being open or declared.

covert intelligence operations

When might furtive be a better fit than clandestine?

While the synonyms furtive and clandestine are close in meaning, furtive implies a sly or cautious stealthiness.

lovers exchanging furtive glances

Where would secret be a reasonable alternative to clandestine?

In some situations, the words secret and clandestine are roughly equivalent. However, secret implies concealment on any grounds for any motive.

met at a secret location

When can stealthy be used instead of clandestine?

Although the words stealthy and clandestine have much in common, stealthy suggests taking pains to avoid being seen or heard especially in some misdoing.

the stealthy step of a burglar

When is surreptitious a more appropriate choice than clandestine?

The meanings of surreptitious and clandestine largely overlap; however, 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

When could underhanded be used to replace clandestine?

While in some cases nearly identical to clandestine, underhanded stresses fraud or deception.

an underhanded trick

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of clandestine Across a two-year period beginning at the end of 2010, China managed to penetrate and dismantle the U.S. intelligence agency’s network of spies in the country in what was revealed in 2018 to have been largely due to the agency botching its clandestine communication system. Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 2 May 2025 Many others seemed to agree that with fewer 24-hour gyms, diners and clandestine bars, New York City’s hours had simply changed. Luke Fortney, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025 Congress is investigating her clandestine superhero-adjacent activities. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2025 He was allegedly held in a clandestine detention site and tortured by intelligence agents. Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for clandestine
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clandestine
Adjective
  • Samuel French, a Texas actor on the rise who portrayed the undercover FBI agent CJ Robinson in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, has died.
    Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2025
  • Pisano has been with the show since his 2021 debut as undercover officer Detective Joe Velasco.
    KiMi Robinson, USA Today, 8 May 2025
Adjective
  • That includes Tom Cruise, as covert CIA division agent Ethan Hunt, riding a motorcycle off a 4,000-foot cliff and BASE jumping the final 500 feet of a ravine, or the breathless climactic train mayhem in 2023’s Dead Reckoning, the opening installment of this two-parter.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2025
  • In an opinion piece published by the Venezuelan independent newspaper La Razón, former lawmaker Omar González Moreno recounted the covert mission that freed him and four others without a single shot being fired.
    Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 12 May 2025
Adjective
  • This would suggest pockets of water in deep underground aquifers.
    Victoria Corless, Space.com, 12 May 2025
  • Earlier this year, researchers announced the discovery of a brick underground aqueduct in Slovakia.
    Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 May 2025
Adjective
  • Domin encouraged residents to contact school district officials with ideas to work on private partnerships.
    Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 13 May 2025
  • But her time in public service became entangled with a private business.
    Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 13 May 2025
Adjective
  • Reporters from around the country followed the case, which marked the first time ever that prosecutors would play for a jury a surreptitious FBI recording of mob soldiers taking the oath of omerta during a mafia initiation ceremony.
    Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2025
  • For example: In 2003, a group of Providence, Rhode Island, artists embarked on a project combining installation art and surreptitious living arrangements.
    Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Clandestine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clandestine. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

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