surreptitiously
/ˌsɜːəpˈtɪʃəsli/sur-uhp-TIH-shuh-slee
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˌsɝəpˈtɪʃəsli/sur-uhp-TIH-shuh-slee
Meaningin a surreptitious way
Common meaning: secretly, by stealth
Tap a word part to explore
- surover, above
- reptto creep, crawlLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1570 · scan
- itiousof the kind of
- lyadverb ending: in a way
‘over, above’ + ‘to creep, crawl’ → surreptitiously
Journey through time
- Latinsurrepere‘to creep under’source
- Latinsurrepticius‘stolen’source
- Englishsurreptitious‘done by stealth’
- Englishformed in English from surreptitioussurreptitiously‘secretly, 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: Formed in English from surreptitious + -ly.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SURREPTITIOUS, p.614 · scan
Roots
- rēpō, -ere Latin “to creep, crawl”
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