stealth

[ stelth ]

noun

1. secret, clandestine, or surreptitious procedure.
2. a furtive departure or entrance.
3. Obsolete.
   1. an act of stealing; theft.
   2. the thing stolen; booty.
4. 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.

stealth

¹

/ 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
3. archaic.
   the act of stealing

Stealth

²

/ stɛlθ /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˈstealthful, adjective

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of stealth¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of stealth¹

C13 stelthe ; see steal , -th ¹