furtive
Done secretly, hoping nobody will notice.
furtive in a sentence
- With a furtive glance around the kitchen, Alfie slid the last biscuit into his pocket.
- The squirrel took a furtive look around before quietly burying its shiny conker beneath the hedge.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to furtive?
- Asneaky
- Bopen
- Cbold
- Dhonest
Show the answer
A: sneaky. The other three mean the opposite of furtive.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to furtive?
- Asecret
- Bopen
- Csly
- Dsneaky
Show the answer
B: open. The other three mean nearly the same as furtive.
Words that mean something similar
sneaky, sly, secret
Words that mean the opposite
open, honest, bold
Careful: furtive is not sly
Furtive is about hiding what you do. Sly is about being clever at tricking others. Read why children mix them up.
More words about behaviour & manners
- gape: To stare at something with your mouth wide open.
- glare: To stare at someone in an angry way; or that angry stare.
- gracious: Kind, polite and pleasant to others.
- grovel: To crawl or beg in an overly humble way to please someone.
- haphazard: Done in a messy way with no plan at all.
- hoard: To collect lots of things and hide them away.
- hoax: A trick that makes people believe something that is not true.
- hostile: Very unfriendly and ready to argue or fight.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test