furtiveness

Furtiveness is being secretive about something. Your furtiveness will come in handy when you plan a surprise party for your brother.

Use the noun furtiveness when you describe the quality of being sly, or a tendency to be sneaky. You might, for example, be suspicious of your best friend's furtiveness when three of the cupcakes you baked go missing. Furtiveness comes from the adjective furtive, or secretive: its root is the Latin furtivus, "stolen, hidden, or secret," which in turn comes from furtum, "theft or robbery."

Definitions of furtiveness

1. noun

   a disposition to be sly and stealthy and to do things surreptitiously
   synonyms: sneakiness, stealthiness

   type of:

   closeness, secretiveness

   characterized by a lack of openness (especially about one's actions or purposes)