Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

surreptitious

/səˌɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.28 in modern English

Syllables: sur-rep-ti-tious
IPA: /səˌɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/

15

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).

Example Sentences

"He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement."
"It is also worth noting the case law on prisoners' correspondence which establishes that interception of a person's communications need not be surreptitious in order to amount to an interference with respect to Art 8 (1) [ECHR]."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin surrēptīcius (“furtive, clandestine”), from surrēpō (“to creep along”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: surrēptīcius

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /səˌɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/
British English: /ˌsʌɹɪpˈtɪʃəs/

Inflected Forms

more surreptitious (comparative) most surreptitious (superlative)

Derived Forms

surreptitiously surreptitiousness unsurreptitious

Phrases

surreptitious advertisement surreptitious advertising

Frequently Paired Words

subreption surreptition

Synonyms

covert clandestine cloak-and-dagger hole-and-corner hugger-mugger hush-hush secret undercover underground

Rhymes With

delicious suspicious ambitious vicious malicious fictitious nutritious superstitious auspicious pernicious capricious judicious

Questions

How do you pronounce surreptitious?: The recorded pronunciation is /səˌɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/.
What does surreptitious mean?: Stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).
Where does surreptitious come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce surreptitious

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “surreptitious”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/səˌɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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