• adj. 秘密的；鬼鬼祟祟的；暗中的

可能来自 sur-,在下，-rept,爬，词源同 reptile,爬行动物。引申词义秘密的，偷偷摸摸的。

surreptitious

surreptitious: [15] Latin surreptītius meant ‘taken away secretly’. It was formed from the past participle of surripere ‘take away secretly’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’, hence ‘secretly’, and rapere ‘seize’ (source of English rape, rapture, etc). English acquired surreptitious direct from the Latin adjective.
=> rape, rapture, ravenous

surreptitious (adj.)

mid-15c., from Latin surrepticius "stolen, furtive, clandestine," from surreptus, past participle of surripere "seize secretly, take away, steal, plagiarize," from assimilated form of sub "from under" (hence, "secretly;" see sub-) + rapere "to snatch" (see rapid). Related: Surreptitiously.

1. She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch.

她偷偷看了一眼手表。

来自《权威词典》

2. His surreptitious behaviour naturally aroused suspicion.

他那鬼鬼祟祟的行为自然引起了旁人的怀疑.

来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3. He made a surreptitious entrance to the club through the little door in the brick wall.

他从砖墙的小门偷偷进入俱乐部。

来自柯林斯例句

4. They had several surreptitious conversations.

他们有过几次秘密会谈。

来自辞典例句

5. Such surreptitious bypassing of Standlely was distasteful.

这种偷偷摸摸的绕过斯坦德莱的做法令人厌恶.

来自辞典例句