Clandestine

How to spell clandestine

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce clandestine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does clandestine mean?

1. adjectiveKept secret or concealed, especially because it is illicit or not officially sanctioned.

Clandestine in a sentence

• The auditors uncovered a clandestine account hidden from the board.

• They held a clandestine meeting in the basement to avoid the press.

Where does clandestine come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin clandestinus, meaning 'secret' or 'hidden', which was built on the adverb clam, literally 'in secret' or 'privately'. That little root clam is thought to be related to celare, the Latin verb 'to conceal', the same family that gives English the word 'conceal' itself. English adopted clandestine in the middle of the sixteenth century, taking it either directly from Latin or by way of the French clandestin, and it has carried the sense of deliberately concealed activity ever since. The word almost always describes things done on the sly, such as secret meetings, hidden affairs, or covert operations. The spelling trap lies in that unstressed middle: the strong stress falls on 'des', so the surrounding vowels blur, and writers must remember the steady -dest- spelling rather than what the ear suggests.

How the word is built

• clandestin- (from Latin clandestinus: secret, hidden)
• -e (English adjective ending)