surreptitious
- Done secretly or stealthily, especially to avoid detection or notice.
In a sentence
- She cast a surreptitious glance at her colleague's notes during the meeting.
- He took a surreptitious sip of coffee while the professor's back was turned.
Usage note. Spelling trap: the double 'r' after 'su-' trips many writers; remember 'sur-rep-titious' by thinking of 'rep' as in reptile slinking away quietly.
Where it comes from
English surreptitious — “done in secret” · entered English 15th c.
From Latin 'surrepticius', meaning 'stolen, clandestine', derived from 'surripere' (to snatch secretly), composed of 'sub-' (under, secretly) and 'rapere' (to seize). The word entered English in the 15th century. Source: Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster.