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偷偷

tōu tōu
HSK 3.0 Level 6 Adverb Common

Definitions

  1. 1. stealthily
  2. 2. secretly
  3. 3. covertly
  4. 4. furtively
  5. 5. on the sly

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Word relationships

Antonyms

1 item
公开
gōng kāi

open; overt; public

公开 means 'openly' or 'publicly', the opposite of secretly doing something.

Related words

1 item
偷偷摸摸
tōu tōu mō mō

surreptitious; sneaky

Reduplicated idiom meaning 'furtively' or 'sneaky', intensifying the sense of stealth.

Synonyms

2 items
悄悄
qiāo qiāo

quiet; making little or no noise

Both can mean 'quietly' or 'secretly', but 偷偷 emphasizes sneaking and often implies doing something against rules or without permission.
暗中
àn zhōng

in the dark

暗中 means 'in secret' or 'behind the scenes', more formal, while 偷偷 is more colloquial and implies stealthy behavior.

Usage notes

Common mistakes

When used as an adverbial, 偷偷 cannot modify verbs that describe positive, open, or straightforward actions. It often collocates with actions considered improper or needing secrecy.

Example Sentences

2 shown
他 偷偷 看了看手机。
He secretly glanced at his phone.
學生們 偷偷 笑。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 13138944)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 偷偷

偷偷摸摸
tōu tōu mō mō

surreptitious; sneaky

Child Words of 偷偷

偷
tōu

to steal