clandestine
adjective
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Psst!—if your first instinct, upon being asked what you’ve been up to, is to clam up, your querier may suspect you’ve been involved in some clandestine activities. Clandestine often substitutes for secret and covert, and it is commonly applied to actions that involve secrecy maintained for an evil, illicit, or unauthorized purpose, as in "clandestine activities pursued under cover of night." It comes to English by way of Middle French, from the Latin word clandestinus, which is itself from the Latin adverb clam, meaning "secretly." Note that this clam is not the ancestor of the English word clam, despite how tightly sealed and thus secretive the bivalves may seem.
Examples of clandestine in a Sentence
Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, 1988
The CIA's great innovation has been to concentrate in peacetime on 'covert action'—that is, the use of clandestine means to challenge policies and regimes in other countries.
—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Cycles of American History, 1986
And Pym was in London for a conference—no, he wasn't, he was attending a three-day course on the latest methods of clandestine communication in a beastly little training house off Smith Square.
—John le Carré, A Perfect Spy, 1986
I took a clandestine peek at the price tag on the diamond necklace.
Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2025
For those hoping to wed immediately, whether to avoid family scrutiny or cover up an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, clandestine marriages performed by Anglican clergy offered a welcome alternative.
—Alexandra Cox, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2025
O’Neill’s focus is the clandestine CIA program known as MKUltra, which was launched in 1953 and lasted for 20 years.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Mar. 2025
These chemicals are then typically shipped to Mexico, where cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation manufacture it into fentanyl in clandestine labs.
—William Lambers, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clandestine
Cite this Entry
“Clandestine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clandestine. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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clandestine
adjective
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