What does furtive mean?
Definitions for furtive
ˈfɜr tɪvfurtive
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word furtive.
Princeton's WordNet
furtive, sneak(a), sneaky, stealthy, surreptitiousadjective
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
"a furtive manner"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch"
backstair, backstairs, furtiveadjective
secret and sly or sordid
"backstairs gossip"; "his low backstairs cunning"- A.L.Guerard; "backstairs intimacies"; "furtive behavior"
Wiktionary
furtiveadjective
stealthy
furtiveadjective
Exhibiting guilty or evasive secrecy.
Etymology: From furtif, From furtivus, from furtum, from fur.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Furtiveadjective
Stolen; gotten by theft.
Etymology: furtive, Fr. furtivus, Latin.
Or do they, as your schemes, I think, have shown,
Dart furtive beams and glory not their own,
All servants to that source of light, the sun? Matthew Prior.
Wikipedia
furtive
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controversial, depending on the content or nature of the secret, the group or people keeping the secret, and the motivation for secrecy. Secrecy by government entities is often decried as excessive or in promotion of poor operation; excessive revelation of information on individuals can conflict with virtues of privacy and confidentiality. It is often contrasted with social transparency. Secrecy can exist in a number of different ways: encoding or encryption (where mathematical and technical strategies are used to hide messages), true secrecy (where restrictions are put upon those who take part of the message, such as through government security classification) and obfuscation, where secrets are hidden in plain sight behind complex idiosyncratic language (jargon) or steganography. Another classification proposed by Claude Shannon in 1948 reads there are three systems of secrecy within communication: concealment systems, including such methods as invisible ink, concealing a message in an innocent text, or in a fake covering cryptogram, or other methods in which the existence of the message is concealed from the enemy privacy systems, for example, voice inversion, in which special equipment is required to recover the message "true" secrecy systems where the meaning of the message is concealed by the cypher, code, etc., although its existence is not hidden, and the enemy is assumed to have any special equipment necessary to intercept and record the transmitted signal
ChatGPT
furtive
Furtive refers to behavior that is secretive, sly or covert, often because it aims to avoid notice or attention. It usually suggests an attempt to hide some inappropriate or unlawful actions.
Webster Dictionary
Furtiveadjective
stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look
Etymology: [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Furtive
fur′tiv, adj. stealthy: secret.—adv. Fur′tively. [Fr.,—L. furtivus—fur, a thief.]
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of furtive in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of furtive in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
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Translations for furtive
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"furtive." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/furtive>.
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