Plainly
look up a word, understand it — no rabbit hole
surreptitious
adjectivesur-up-TISH-us
meaning in plain English
Done in a secret or sneaky way to avoid being noticed.
Imagine a cat sneaking past a sleeping dog—its moves are surreptitious, hidden and quiet.
for example
She took a surreptitious glance at her phone during the meeting.
Imagine sneaking a cookie from the jar when no one’s looking—you’re being surreptitious because you’re hiding what you’re doing. Why does it matter? Because if you were caught, you’d feel embarrassed, and that’s the whole point of doing it in a surreptitious way.