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 The film’s synopsis describes a harrowing premise: During the 1978 World Cup soccer final, amid Argentina’s military dictatorship, a group of torturers violently breaks into a home and kidnaps young people to take them to a clandestine detention center. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 May 2025 Back to the Oldest House For those who haven’t played any of Remedy’s previous games, the FBC stands for the Federal Bureau of Control, and is a clandestine U.S. government organization that’s responsible for handling paranormal phenomenon. Jason Fanelli, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2025 Trump has cited fentanyl deaths as a reason for tariffs against China, a source of chemical ingredients used in clandestine labs, and suggested drone strikes on Mexican drug cartels. Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025 The Gestapo, Hitler’s secret police, combed the Poles’ ranks in search of men with experience in clandestine resistance organizations. Paul Hockenos, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 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
  • The second phase of redevelopment is expected to double the size of the Stockyards, adding three hotels, 300,000 square feet of commercial space, at least 295 units of multifamily housing and two underground parking garages.
    Kate Marijolovic, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 May 2025
  • Weather permitting, chefs prepare cochinita pibil, perhaps the most iconic dish of the region, in an underground pit directly on the beach.
    Claudia Alarcón, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
Adjective
  • The city’s unlawful camping ordinance prohibits camping, occupying camp facilities or using camp paraphernalia on public or private property.
    Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 13 May 2025
  • The bill would require private insurers to pay in-network therapists at least 141% of the rate Medicare pays for the same behavioral health or substance use disorder service.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 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 27 May. 2025.

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