Synonyms for clandestine
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Secret — done or kept in secret, sometimes to conceal an illicit or improper purpose
secret, surreptitious, covert, furtive, undercover, under-the-table, secretive, stealthy, sly, cloak-and-dagger, hush-hush, private, hidden, disguised, concealed, privy, dark, hugger-mugger, sneaky, underhand, arcane, slinky
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Done or kept in secret, sometimes to conceal an illicit or improper purpose.
clandestine military operations
Related words
- Word family
- clandestinely clandestineness clandestinity
Example sentences
- secret Tom happened to let out the secret to his friends.
- covert We have been sent on a covert mission.
- furtive They cast furtive glances at one another.
- surreptitious The surreptitious gesture went unnoticed by the rest of the room.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| clandestine | rising | |
| secret | rising | |
| covert | rising | |
| furtive | rising | |
| surreptitious | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- sly1
- 4 letters
- dark1
- 5 letters
- privy2
- 6 letters
- secret2, hidden2, covert2, sneaky2, arcane2, slinky2
- 7 letters
- private2, furtive2
- 8 letters
- stealthy2
- 9 letters
- concealed2, disguised2, secretive3, underhand
- 10 letters
- undercover4
- 13 letters
- surreptitious4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (privy2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- clandestin
- Italiano
- clandestino
- Español
- clandestino
- Deutsch
- heimlich