furtive

Definition

Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.

Etymology

From Middle English *furtyve (implied in furtyvely (adverb)), from Middle French furtif, furtive (“furtive, stealthy”) (modern French furtif), from Latin fūrtīvus (“clandestine, furtive, secret; concealed, hidden; stolen”), from fūrtum (“theft; robbery”) (from fūr (“thief”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives).

Example Sentences

• "[…] The Defendant never vvas acknovvledged by the Sieur Harrouard’s Family, nor by that of his VVife. Thus, granting him to have been in Poſſeſſion of his Son’s Eſtate, it vvould only be a furtive and clandeſtine, not a public and avovved Poſſeſſion; and conſequently ſuch a Poſſeſſion as is incapable of founding a juſt and legal Title."
• "[T]ender cares and mild domestic Loves, / With furtive watch, pursue her [a swan] as she moves; […]"
• "I noticed the same singular, and as it were, furtive glance over the shoulder that had attracted my attention in the Cassino."

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