stealth

[ stelth ]
See synonyms for stealth on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.

  2. a furtive departure or entrance.

  1. Obsolete.

    • an act of stealing; theft.

    • the thing stolen; booty.

  2. Stealth, Military. a U.S. Air Force project involving a range of technologies, with the purpose of developing aircraft that are difficult to detect by sight, sound, radar, and infrared energy.

adjective
  1. not openly acknowledged; surreptitious; secret: They used underhand methods such as the stealth hiring of a competitor's CEO.Spending cuts are the stealth issue of this presidential race.

  2. (of a transgender person) living as a cisgender member of one's identified gender, without revealing that one is transgender: For some transgender people, being stealth may be the safest option.

Origin of stealth

1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English stelthe, stelth; compare Old English stælthing “theft”; see steal, -th1

Other words from stealth

  • stealth·ful, adjective
  • stealth·ful·ly, adverb
  • stealth·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for stealth (1 of 2)

stealth

/ (stɛlθ) /


noun
  1. the act or characteristic of moving with extreme care and quietness, esp so as to avoid detection: the stealth of a cat

  2. cunning or underhand procedure or dealing

  1. archaic the act of stealing

Origin of stealth

1
C13 stelthe; see steal, -th 1

Derived forms of stealth

  • stealthful, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Stealth (2 of 2)

Stealth

/ (stɛlθ) /


noun
  1. (modifier) informal denoting or referring to technology that aims to reduce the radar, thermal, and acoustic recognizability of aircraft and missiles

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012