Word of the Day

marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed

• And then he remembers his surreptitious identity for the evening: "I'm a freshman at Amherst."¹
• Beholden to paying clients, they were widely seen as surreptitious figures who burglarized people's secrets.²
• Boys you secretly tutor and meet for surreptitious swimming lessons.³

frugal to the point of stinginess

• “So you are just parsimonious with your words?”¹
• This may prove me as parsimonious as my father, but who spends that much money on corny inflatable light-up Santa Clauses and spinning, singing reindeer?²
• Instead, my parsimonious father launches into a ten-minute-long lecture about how working for a living is hard and kids today don’t get it because they’re given allowances they don’t earn.²
• Despite the inflow of cash and capital assets, Lawrence kept a parsimonious grip on his kingdom.³