Word of the Week: SURREPTITIOUS

surreptitious •\ˌsər-əp-ˈti-shəs, ˌsə-rəp-, sə-ˌrep-\• adjective

When someone behaves in a surreptitious way, they're being secretive. They're doing something that they don't want to be seen doing.

While surreptitious means secret, it has the added sense of "sneaky" or "hidden."

You'll see surreptitious applied mostly to actions, rather than to things or ideas. We do things surreptitiously. The members of the secret society hold surreptitious meetings because, well, they're a secret society. I was very surreptitious in how I organized the surprise party: he never knew!

Origin of SURREPTITIOUS

Middle English, from Latin surrepticius, from surreptus, past participle of surripere to snatch secretly, from sub- + rapere to seize — more at rapid

First Known Use: 15th century

 

Gotcha from http://www.vocabulary.com/definition/surreptitious & http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surreptitious