1
as in shady
given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions
a furtive guy who always seems to be up to something, and usually that something is no-good
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
gave each other furtive glances as we watched our friend open the booby-trapped soda
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of furtive
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
Asked by the newspaper’s lawyers to explain how the furtive system worked, Mr. Frankel typed up a 14-page memo.
—David W. Dunlap, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for furtive
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
Asked by the newspaper’s lawyers to explain how the furtive system worked, Mr. Frankel typed up a 14-page memo.
—David W. Dunlap, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for furtive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for furtive
Adjective
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One of them is Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), a shady pharmaceuticals bigwig who wants to develop the world’s most effective heart medication using dinosaur blood samples.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
30 June 2025
-
Old-school bedding impatiens will bloom continuously in a shady spot.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
29 June 2025
Adjective
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American veterans and others have traveled to smaller, clandestine clinics for treatment to deal with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
29 June 2025
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Gi-hun, who’d found his way back in the clandestine gaming complex (situated inside a mountain on a remote island), is Player 456 again among a new round of contestants.—
Lorraine Ali,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
Adjective
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In a moment of sly genius, Duke gained entry by concealing himself as one of Lyle’s ghostly henchmen using a rubber band and a piece of white tissue as his disguise.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
18 June 2025
-
In practice, this would be a field day for NIMBY types (or sly hotel owners) who have an alderman’s ear (or the means to boost an aldermanic bank account).—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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Fourth-generation aircraft include workhorse attack planes like the F-15 and F-18, while fifth-generation are stealthy, like the Air Force’s most sophisticated plane, the F-22.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
23 June 2025
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Now, scientists writing in Frontiers in Earth Sciences have identified certain characteristics that explain the stealthy nature of Veniaminof and others like it.—
Rosie McCall,
Discover Magazine,
16 June 2025
Adjective
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Now, after Operation Midnight Hammer, arguably one of the most perfect covert military operations in U.S. history, who could argue? Even Trump’s most ardent critics had to give him credit.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
28 June 2025
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The show has spent its entire fourth season tiptoeing around Sydney’s covert job offer, Carmy’s partnership alterations, and whatever was going on inside Richie’s GoFastBoatsMojito brain, but in one big, 30-odd-minute bottle episode, it’s all been laid on the table.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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Instead, studies suggest that, in practice, work and other eligibility requirements achieve a lot of savings in a sort of sneaky way.—
Greg Rosalsky,
NPR,
26 June 2025
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At age 17, Brown learned the truth, thanks to Barr’s fame — and, allegedly, a sneaky ex-boyfriend, the comedian recalled to Bunnie.—
Bailey Richards,
People.com,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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Conan Edogawa and Detective Kogoro Mouri join the Nagano prefectural police to investigate a break-in at the observatory while uncovering a deeper plot involving undercover agents, betrayal, and vengeance.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
30 June 2025
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On June 24, undercover agents attempted to purchase fireworks from Pan.—
Roni Jacobson,
New York Daily News,
30 June 2025
Adjective
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Claire, who blows in and out of Kate’s life, turns up one night pleading for help and telling tales about an accident involving her shifty boyfriend Ryan (Edmund Donovan).—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
12 June 2025
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By associating vibes with AI, doing so is an outrageous and shifty means of subliminally implying that AI is mysterious, perhaps bordering on possessing sentience.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Furtive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/furtive. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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