Wordwyrt

surreptitious

/ˌsɜːəpˈtɪʃəs/sur-uhp-TIH-shuhs
/ˌsɝəpˈtɪʃəs/sur-uhp-TIH-shuhs

Meaningcreeping under

Common meaning: done by stealth

‘over, above’ + ‘to creep, crawl’ → surreptitious

Journey through time

  1. Latinsurrepere‘to creep under’source
  2. Latinsurrepticius‘stolen’source
  3. Englishsurreptitious‘done by stealth’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin rēpō ‘to creep, crawl’.

Roots

Related words

reptile

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app