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clandestine

[klan-des-tin]

Origin

adjective

characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious: Their clandestine meetings went undiscovered for two years.

Origin:
1560–70; < Latin clandestīnus, equivalent to *clande, *clamde, variant of clam secretly (with -de adv. particle) + -stīnus, probably after intestīnus internal; see intestine

Related forms

clan·des·tine·ly, adverb

clan·des·tine·ness, clan·des·tin·i·ty, noun

un·clan·des·tine·ly, adverb

Synonyms
hidden, underhand, confidential, illicit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Clandestine

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Clandestine is an SAT word you need to know.

So is incorrigible. Does it mean:

not flowing or running, such as water or air; characterized by lack of development, advancement, or progressive movement

bad beyond correction or reform; impervious to constraints or punishment; not easily changed, swayed or influenced

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Collins

World English Dictionary

clandestine (klænˈdɛstɪn)

—*adj*
	secret and concealed, often for illicit reasons; furtive

[C16: from Latin clandestīnus, from clam secretly; related to Latin celāre to hide]

clan'destinely

—*adv*

clan'destineness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

clandestine

1566, from L. clandestinus "secret, hidden," from clam "secretly," from base of celare "to hide" (see cell).

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samizdat stealth undercover underhand

Matching Quote

"There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedient's taking the law into his own hands in open defiance. This distinction between an open violation of the law, performed in public, and a clandestine one is so glaringly obvious that it can be neglected only by prejudice or ill will."

-Hannah Arendt

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