furtive
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɜːtɪv/
ipa: /ˈfɝtɪv/
ipa: [-ɾɪv]
ipa: [ˈfɜːɾɪv]
rhymes: -ɜːtɪv
Forms: form: more furtive
form: most furtive
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).
Senses: examples: text: […] 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.
ref: 1744, [François Gayot de Pitaval], “The History of Charles-Francis Harrouard, whom His Father and Mother Disowned to be Their Son”, in [anonymous], transl., A Select Collection of Singular and Interesting Histories. […], volume II, London: […] [A]ndrew Millar, […], →OCLC, page 280:
text: [T]ender cares and mild domestic Loves, / With furtive watch, pursue her [a swan] as she moves; […]
ref: 1787–1789, William Wordsworth, “An Evening Walk, Addressed to a Young Lady”, in Henry [Hope] Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hayes & Zell, […], published 1860, →OCLC, page 27, column 2:
text: I noticed the same singular, and as it were, furtive glance over the shoulder that had attracted my attention in the Cassino.
ref: 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Adventure of the Mysterious Stranger”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. […]), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 95:
text: The proprietor of the house cowered over a bed-candle and a furtive tea-pot in the back drawing-room.
ref: 1855, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “An Old Friend”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 128:
text: "Don't call me Solomon. Do you want to be the death of me?" asked the man, in a furtive, frightened way.
ref: 1859, Charles Dickens, “A Hand at Cards”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 198:
text: At the edge of my kingdom scurry / ⁠Creatures in feathers and furs— / Crows in a furtive hurry— / ⁠Hungry and cringing curs— […]
ref: 1902, [Alice Macdonald Fleming], “In Camp”, in [Alice Kipling; Alice Macdonald Fleming], Hand in Hand: Verses by a Mother and Daughter, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews […]; New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 71:
text: Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.
ref: 1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 3, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 1, page 31:
synonyms: word: clandestine
word: surreptitious
word: abstruse
word: behind the scenes
word: catlike
word: stealth
word: clandestine
word: cloak-and-dagger
word: concealed
word: confidential
word: covert
word: deep-laid
word: dern
word: disguised
word: furtive
word: huggermugger
word: hush-hush
word: inconspicuous
word: incognito
word: low profile
word: lurksome
word: lurky
word: mousy
word: obfuscated
word: off-the-books
word: on the down-low
word: on the sly
word: secret
word: secretive
word: slinky
word: sly
word: sneaky
word: stealthy
word: sub rosa
word: surreptitious
word: under-the-table
word: under the radar
word: under wraps
word: undercover
word: underground
word: unperceived
glosses: Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.
examples: text: Novv ſhine theſe Planets vvith ſubſtantial Rays? / Does innate Luſtre gild their meaſur'd Days? / Or do they (as your Schemes, I think, have ſhovvn) / Dart furtive Beams, and Glory not their ovvn, / All Servants to that Source of Light, the Sun?
ref: 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book I (Knowledge), page 415:
glosses: Of a thing: that has been acquired by theft; stolen; also (generally) taken stealthily.
examples: text: All women have their foibles. Wise husbands must bear and forbear. Is that all? wherefore, then, is her aspect so furtive, wherefore on his a wild, vigilant sternness?
ref: 1857, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter V, in What will He Do with It? (Collection of British Authors; CCCCXL), Tauchnitz edition, volume III, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, →OCLC, book VI, page 159:
text: So, Riderhood looking after him as he went, and he with his furtive hand laid upon the dagger as he passed it, and his eyes upon the boat, were much upon a par.
ref: 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Setting Traps”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, book the fourth (A Turning), page 165:
text: Gluttonous, hoarding jay; he should have hedge-hopped and lurched from tree to tree in his usual furtive manner.
ref: 1967, J[ohn] A[lec] Baker, “[The Peregrine] The Hunting Life”, in John Fanshawe, editor, The Peregrine, The Hill of Summer & Diaries: The Complete Works of J. A. Baker, London: Collins, published 2011, →ISBN, page 48:
synonyms: thieflike
thievish
glosses: Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.
synonyms: thievish
glosses: Of a person, etc.: inclined to steal; pilfering, thieving.
Derived terms: furtively
furtiveness
furtivity
Related terms: ferret