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Middlemarch vocabulary
551 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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surreptitious
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synonyms: in petto, clancular, hugger-mugger, furtive ???
► definition
Definition:inappropriately done or obtained via stealth; secret
► uses
Uses:
they took turns stopping at frequent intervals to relieve themselves, allowing me to dismount for a few minutes and surreptitiously rub my aching fundament.
Diana Gabaldon. Outlander (1991)
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there exists a class of men trained in soul-craft, whom they call straighteners, as nearly as I can translate a word which literally means “one who bends back the crooked.” These men practise much as medical men in England, and receive a quasi-surreptitious fee on every visit.
Samuel Butler. Erewhon
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The couple seated themselves on the opposite side, and intently but surreptitiously scrutinized her clothes. Both husband and wife seemed repulsive to Anna.
Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina (Translated by Constance Garnett)
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She squatted next to him and surreptitiously flashed the Boethian photograph cupped in her hand.
John Kennedy Toole. A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)
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I groped for the timetable I had in my pocket and surreptitiously fished it out to look as soon as possible for a train.
Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita
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