surreptitious

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

SURREPTI'TIOUS, adjective [Latin surreptitius, supra.] Done by stealth or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; as a surreptitious passage in a manuscript. A correct copy of the Dunciad, the many surreptitious ones have rendered necessary.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

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