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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of furtive
Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research.
—
Cyril Labbé, The Conversation, 31 Jan. 2025
Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research, undermining the literature that everyone from doctors to engineers rely on to make decisions about human lives.
—Guillaume Cabanac, The Conversation, 29 Jan. 2025
At home, the atmosphere was decorous, curious, gentle; outside, the culture of the nineteen-fifties was tougher, valorizing war and papering over a darker, more furtive kind of violence.
—Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2025
The secret-weapon character who makes the more haunting impression is Agnes, whose chignon hides a rebellious spirit underneath — as well as a furtive romance with the stable boy, Isak (Malte Gårdinger).
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for furtive
Cyril Labbé, The Conversation, 31 Jan. 2025
Over the past decade, furtive commercial entities around the world have industrialized the production, sale and dissemination of bogus scholarly research, undermining the literature that everyone from doctors to engineers rely on to make decisions about human lives.
—Guillaume Cabanac, The Conversation, 29 Jan. 2025
At home, the atmosphere was decorous, curious, gentle; outside, the culture of the nineteen-fifties was tougher, valorizing war and papering over a darker, more furtive kind of violence.
—Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2025
The secret-weapon character who makes the more haunting impression is Agnes, whose chignon hides a rebellious spirit underneath — as well as a furtive romance with the stable boy, Isak (Malte Gårdinger).
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for furtive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for furtive
Adjective
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Good for a cool, shady location, the blooms are pale blue with purple shading nodding bells, 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter, and grows up to 15 feet tall.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
3 May 2025
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Imagine committing elaborate crimes to garner viral influencer attention or making connections with shady associates via the dark web.—
Jordan Minor,
PC Magazine,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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He was allegedly held in a clandestine detention site and tortured by intelligence agents.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
30 Apr. 2025
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Guests can order craft cocktails at the circular bar, and for those who indulge, there’s a small, clandestine cigar room just off the entrance.—
John Wogan,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But reception took a turn for a worse when critics noticed Meta’s sly approach to ranking on LMArena, a site that ranks LLMs based on user votes.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Apr. 2025
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Each plays a role in fooling their foe, who captures the turtle, while the deer, heeding the turtle’s good counsel, manages a sly escape.—
John Nemec,
The Conversation,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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My network—stealthy enough that thieves often don’t even know they’re being tracked.—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Apr. 2025
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Of course, like everything else in the defense realm, this advantage has resulted in an arms race waged over a century as navies come up with better ways to detect submarines while making their boats stealthier.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The covert intervention in Chile is perhaps the best example.—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
1 May 2025
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An upper bedroom has a bookcase and covert panels leading to a secret room — a delight for imaginative young minds.—
Mike Klingaman,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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One that’s sneaky smart is choosing our first singles off an upcoming project.—
Justin Curto,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
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Fifth-round pick Jordan Hancock could be a sneaky option to start down the line, too.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The Han Solo bon mot is reminiscent of Diego Luna's confusion when he is asked about smoothing some of Cassian Andor's rougher edges to go undercover as fashion designer Varian Skye in the second block of Andor season 2 episodes.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
1 May 2025
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Next up, he’s set to star alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Sean Bean in the action comedy Deep Cover, about a group of improv actors who are asked to go undercover.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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And the staff lined up just to say goodbye / Tiny tear in his shifty little eye.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Apr. 2025
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That blandness has gone hand in hand with a shifty political opportunism, marked by half-hearted representational milestones—Ariel is Black!—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Furtive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/furtive. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
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