| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | quiet and secretive |
| Synonyms: | catlike, catty, clandestine, covert, crafty, cunning, enigmatic, feline, furtive, hush-hush, noiseless, private, secret, shifty, silent, skulking, slinking, sly, sneak, sneaking, sneaky, sub-rosa, surreptitious, under wraps, undercover, underhand, wily |
| Antonyms: | open, public |
| Main Entry: | covert |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clandestine, underhanded |
| Synonyms: | QT, buried, camouflaged, cloaked, concealed, disguised, dissembled, furtive, hidden, hush-hush, incog, incognito, masked, obscured, private, privy, secret, shrouded, stealthy, sub rosa, surreptitious, ulterior, under wraps, under-the-table, undercover, underhand, unsuspected, veiled |
| Notes: | covert (concealed, covered, hidden) is the opposite of overt (apparent, open to view, plain, public) |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, candid, frank, honest, open, overt, public, unconcealed |
| Main Entry: | deceitful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dishonest, insincere |
| Synonyms: | artful, astucious, astute, beguiling, clandestine, counterfeit, crafty, cunning, deceiving, deceptive, delusive, delusory, designing, disingenuous, double-dealing, duplicitous, fallacious, false, feline, foxy, fraudulent, furtive, guileful, hypocritical, illusory, impostrous, indirect, insidious, knavish, lying, mendacious, misleading, rascal, roguish, shifty, slick, sly, sneaky, stealthy, subtle, treacherous, tricky, two-faced, underhand, underhanded, untrustworthy, untruthful, wily |
| Notes: | deceitful means intended to deceive or cheat while deceptive means causing one to believe what is not true or likely to mislead someone |
| Antonyms: | faithful, frank, honest, loyal, open, sincere, trustworthy, truthful, upright |
| Main Entry: | furtive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, secretive |
| Synonyms: | artful, calculating, cautious, circumspect, clandestine, cloaked, conspiratorial, covert, crafty*, creepy*, cunning, disguised, elusive, evasive, foxy, guileful, hidden, hush-hush, insidious, masked, scheming, shifty, skulking, slinking, sly, stealthy, sub-rosa, surreptitious, tricky*, under wraps, under-the-table, undercover, underhand, underhanded, wily |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, forthright, honest, open, truthful |
| Main Entry: | insidious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, tricky |
| Synonyms: | Machiavellian, artful, astute, corrupt, crafty, crooked, cunning, dangerous, deceitful, deceptive, deep, designing, dishonest, disingenuous, duplicitous, ensnaring, false, foxy, guileful, intriguing, like a snake in the grass, perfidious, perilous, secret, slick, sly, smooth, snaky, sneaking, stealthy, subtle, surreptitious, treacherous, wily, wormlike |
| Notes: | insidious (Latin insidere 'to lie in wait for,' from sedere 'sit') describes stealthy, treacherous behavior; invidious behavior arouses ill will, animosity, or hostility |
| Antonyms: | fair, honest, open, sincere |
| Main Entry: | secret |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | underhand, clandestine |
| Synonyms: | backdoor, backstairs, camouflaged, classified, close, confidential, covert, cryptic, discreet, disguised, dissembled, dissimulated, furtive, hush-hush, in ambush, incognito, inside, restricted, secretive, sly, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, sub-rosa, surreptitious, top secret, unacknowledged, under false pretense, under-the-table, underhanded |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, known, legal, legitimate, public |
| Main Entry: | sly |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, devious |
| Synonyms: | arch, artful, astute, bluffing, cagey, calculating, canny, captious, conniving, covert, crafty, crooked, cunning, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, designing, dishonest, dishonorable, dissembling, double-dealing, elusive, foxy, furtive, guileful, illusory, impish, ingenious, insidious, intriguing, mean, mischievous, plotting, roguish, scheming, secret, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, smart, smooth, sneaking, stealthy, subtle, traitorous, treacherous, tricky, underhand, unscrupulous, wily |
| Antonyms: | honest, open, simple, straight, straightforward, unclever |
| Main Entry: | sneaky |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | underhanded, dishonest |
| Synonyms: | base, contemptible, cowardly, deceitful, devious, disingenuous, double-dealing, duplicitous, furtive, guileful, indirect, low, malicious, mean, nasty, recreant, secretive, shifty, slippery, sly, sneaking, snide, stealthy, surreptitious, tricky, underhand, unreliable, unscrupulous, untrustworthy, yellow* |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, candid, forthright, frank, honest |
| Main Entry: | surreptitious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sneaky, secret |
| Synonyms: | clandestine, covert, fraudulent, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, on the QT, on the sly, private, skulking, slinking, sly, sneaking, stealthy, sub-rosa, unauthorized, under wraps, under-the-table, undercover, underhand, veiled |
| Antonyms: | aboveboard, authorized, honest, open |