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Candor is the quality of being honest and open in speech or action.
Something that is clandestine is hidden or kept a secret, often because it is illegal.
A conclave is a meeting between a group of people who discuss something secretly.
Covert activities or situations are secret and hidden.
Someone who is disingenuous is not straightforward or is dishonest in what they say or do.
To divulge something is to reveal information that was once private or secret.
Someone who is effusive expresses happiness, pleasure, admiration, praise, etc., in an extremely enthusiastic way.
If you exude a quality or feeling, people easily notice that you have a large quantity of it because it flows from you; if a smell or liquid exudes from something, it flows steadily and slowly from it.
An action that is flagrant shows that someone does not care if they obviously break the rules or highly offend people.
If someone behaves in a furtive way, they do things sneakily and secretly in order to avoid being noticed.
Something that is inconspicuous does not attract attention and is not easily seen or noticed because it is small or ordinary.
People who are ingenuous are excessively trusting and believe almost everything that people tell them, especially because they have not had much life experience.
Something that is insidious is dangerous because it seems harmless or not important; nevertheless, over time it gradually develops the capacity to cause harm and damage.
Something that is latent, such as an undiscovered talent or undiagnosed disease, exists but is not active or has not developed at the moment—it may develop or become active in the future.
If you describe something as nebulous, you mean that it is unclear, vague, and not clearly defined; a shape that is nebulous has no clear boundaries.
Something is opaque if it is either difficult to understand or is not transparent.
An overt act is not hidden or secret but is done in an open and public way.
If a mood or feeling is palpable, it is so strong and intense that it is easily noticed and is almost able to be physically felt.
A patent situation is one that is wide open and unconcealed; it is both evident and obvious.
Probity is very moral and honest behavior.
Something or someone that is prominent stands out or is noticeable in some way.
Propriety is behaving in a socially acceptable and appropriate way.
If you sidle, you walk slowly, cautiously and often sideways in a particular direction, usually because you do not want to be noticed.
If you employ subterfuge, you use a secret plan or action to get what you want by outwardly doing one thing that cleverly hides your true intentions.
Something that is tangible is able to be touched and thus is considered real.
If someone acts in an unobtrusive way, their actions are not easily noticed and do not stand out in any way.
Wiles are clever tricks or cunning schemes that are used to persuade someone to do what you want.
Adj.
surreptitious
sur-uhp-TISH-uhs
Context
Nora wanted a midnight snack, so she took surreptitious or quiet footsteps into the kitchen, trying not to wake anyone. She did not ask her brother to join her but instead made surreptitious or silent movements through the dark hallways of the house. Nora’s careful plan to raid the cookie jar was executed with surreptitious care or sneaky cleverness; unfortunately, she did not remember Max the dog who barked until he, too, quickly received a snack.
Quiz:Try again!
What is an example of a surreptitious act?
Eating the last piece of cake in the refrigerator even though you know your roommate was saving it.
Sneaking into the back row of your college classroom so your professor doesn’t notice you are late.
Pretending to accidentally bump into a group of friends when you planned to meet them all along.
Syrup Suspicious My sneaky surreptitious children are no longer allowed to pour their own delicioussyrup, for they surreptitiously dump on ounce upon ounce when I turn my back, making me highly suspicious.
Examples
For several days after my first book was published, I carried it about in my pocket and took surreptitious peeps at it to make sure the ink had not faded.
— James M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright, known for creating the character Peter Pan
Germany’s Supreme Court ruled last year that evidence gained from surreptitious searches of a suspect’s computers [was] inadmissible in the absence of surveillance laws regulating police hacking activity.
—
Wired
Several services even use the surreptitious data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, which is called "re-spawning" in homage to video games where zombies come back to life even after being "killed," the report found.
—
CNN
The public’s help is needed to identify a woman who police say swapped a toy ring for a diamond ring during an online sale meetup. The surreptitious swap happened on July 21 at a McDonald’s in Norwalk.
—
CBS Los Angeles
When someone has been surreptitious about doing something, he has “snatched, grabbed, or seized” it “under” someone else’s notice or awareness on purpose.
Word Theater
Through the Wormhole The pink sticky note is placed on the child's head surreptitiously.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
