鲁达 Word of the Day: March 21, 2022
furtive
偷偷摸摸的；鬼鬼祟祟的
adjective FER-tiv [ˈfɜrtɪv]
What It Means
Furtive means "done in a quiet and secret way to avoid being noticed." It can also mean "sly."
Furtive 指悄悄的、秘密的、避免被看见的行动”。 它也用作形容“sly【狡猾的】”。
FURTIVE in Context
"This little fluffy-looking character [a tree creeper] moves upwards on the tree in a jerky, furtive way in a similar way to that of a mouse on the ground. This style of movement gave rise to its common name of 'tree mouse' in parts of the UK." — The Southern Star (Ireland), 3 Mar. 2022
“这个看起来毛茸茸的小东西[a tree creeper]用生涩的、偷偷摸摸的像地上的老鼠一样往树上爬。在英国的部分地区因他的移动方式而命名它为‘树鼠 ’。”
Did You Know?
Furtive comes from either Latin furtivus or French furtif. The earliest known written uses of furtive are from the early 1600s. When first used in English, furtive meant "done by stealth," and later also came to mean, less commonly, "stolen." Whichever meaning you choose, the word has an elusive ancestry, which is particularly fitting, since a thief must be furtive to avoid getting caught in the act
Furtive 来自拉丁语 furtivus 或 法语 furtif。 Furtive最早在 1600 年早期出现。 英语最开始是指“done by stealth【偷偷摸摸做某事】”，后来出现不常见的含义“stolen【偷窃的】”。 无论哪个含义都特别合适作这个词的起源，因为小偷就是需要偷偷摸摸的，以免被抓到。
Quiz
Unscramble the letters to create a word that means "tricky" or "elusive": YFHSIT.
shifty