stealth

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /stɛlθ/ UK /stɛlθ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
cautious, secretive, or surreptitious action or movement

The cat crept toward the bird with practiced stealth.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · cautious, secretive, or... secrecyfurtivenessstealthinessslynesscovertnesssurreptitiousness

Opposites

openness candour transparency

Word family

Derived forms stealthy stealthily

Related forms steal stealthy

Etymology

From Middle English 'stelthe', the act of stealing, from the verb 'steal' (Old English 'stelan') with a suffix paralleling 'health' and 'wealth'.

stelan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# stealth

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /stɛlθ/
**IPA (UK):** /stɛlθ/

## Meanings
1. cautious, secretive, or surreptitious action or movement

## Examples
- The cat crept toward the bird with practiced stealth.

## Synonyms
- secrecy
- furtiveness
- stealthiness
- slyness
- covertness
- surreptitiousness

## Antonyms
- openness
- candour
- transparency

## Derived Forms
- stealthy
- stealthily

## Related Forms
- steal
- stealthy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: stelan

## Etymology
From Middle English 'stelthe', the act of stealing, from the verb 'steal' (Old English 'stelan') with a suffix paralleling 'health' and 'wealth'.

## AI Etymology
Stealth is from Middle English 'stelthe', the act of stealing, from the verb 'steal' (Old English 'stelan') with a suffix paralleling 'health' and 'wealth'. Important recorded forms include stelan (Old English). Morphologically, the ending or combining element adapts the older base to the present English part of speech while keeping the historical sense visible. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers cautious, secretive, or surreptitious action or movement. The wider family includes derived forms such as stealthy and stealthily and related words such as steal and stealthy.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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