How to use furtive in a sentence

11 example sentences · adjective

Furtive means of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy. Example: “But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.”

Examples of furtive by meaning

adjectiveOf a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.

But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 3, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC...

adjectiveOf a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.

Gluttonous, hoarding jay; he should have hedge-hopped and lurched from tree to tree in his usual furtive manner.1967, J[ohn] A[lec] Baker, “[The Peregrine] The Hunting Life”, in John Fanshawe, editor, The Peregrine, The Hill of Summer & Diaries: The...

More sentences with furtive

Gaspard presented his card with a furtive flick of his Rolexed wrist.2004, Kathy Lette, Dead Sexy: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, →ISBN, page 139. From the entry Rolexed
He made immediately for the window and pulled the curtains together with a swift furtive twitch.1973, John Broderick, An apology for roses, Calder Publications Limited. From the entry bawneen
Only a few short minutes had passed since your incredible, mind-blowing, furtive Poképhiliac tryst with the hot Lucario upstairs.2019 July 15, NightStalkerNS, “Lucariophilia”, in SoFurry. From the entry Poképhiliac
The time in the paintings is also deepened by furtive movements and rustlings, mostly thanks to Bonnard’s figures.2009 January 30, Roberta Smith, “Bonnard Late in Life, Searching for the Light”, in New York Times. From the entry rustling
Then everyone moved at the same time — slight shiftings of the hands and feet, furtive easings of position.1978, Jack Vance, The View from Chickweed's Window. From the entry shifting
Winter's cold being the readiest punisher available, I took to applying snow or ice to myself in my furtive efforts to quench the heatful ardor.1993, Susan Davis, The Long Reach, →ISBN, page 70. From the entry heatful
I needed a few liveners if I was to face, in two hours time, a parade of my words and furtive people on a stage.1968, Gwyn Thomas, A few selected exits: an autobiography of sorts. From the entry livener
When he met Strether's eye on such occasions he looked guilty and furtive, fell the next minute into some attitude of retractation.1903 September 28, Henry James, The Ambassadors, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC. From the entry retractation
Here I was, embosomed in the very nave, the very omphalos of furtive femininity—a prize patron of the women's restaurant, a member, privy to its innermost secrets.2014, T.C. Boyle, The Collected Stories Of T.Coraghessan Boyle. From the entry omphalos

Meaning of furtive

adjective Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.
adjective Of a thing: that has been acquired by theft; stolen; also (generally) taken stealthily.
adjective Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy.

Full definition of furtive

Questions about furtive in a sentence

How do you use furtive in a sentence?: Furtive is used as an adjective. For example: “But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.”
What is a short sentence with furtive?: “Gaspard presented his card with a furtive flick of his Rolexed wrist.”
What does furtive mean?: Furtive means of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy.

Adapted from Wiktionary: furtive (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use furtive in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/furtive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.