surreptitious

\ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\

/\ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\/ adj

The verdict

“surreptitious” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Subreptice ; sournois.

Corpus desk

Index FR-surreptitious · surreptitious · French

surreptitious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for surreptitious
PropertyValue
Headwordsurreptitious
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « surreptitious » en français

surreptitioussiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

surreptitious is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Subreptice ; sournois.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for surreptitious, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is surreptitious, spelled S-U-R-R-E-P-T-I-T-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Subreptice ; sournois.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "surreptitious"?
"surreptitious" is spelled S-U-R-R-E-P-T-I-T-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\.
What does "surreptitious" mean?
As an adjective, "surreptitious" means: Subreptice ; sournois.
How do you pronounce "surreptitious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "surreptitious" is \ˌsɜɹ.əpˈtɪʃ.əs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "surreptitious" come from?
"surreptitious" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list