cloak-and-dagger
таємний, секретний, потайний
тайный, секретный, потайной
Mantel-und-Degen
Marked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involvedMarked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved.
Meaning
1 sensesMarked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved.
Mantel-und-Degen
More definitions
- conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Translations
4 languagesDeutsch
By meaning 1
marked by menacing furtive secrecy:
Origin
Calque of French de cape et d'épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. ThCalque of French de cape et d'épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. The French term referred to a genre of drama in which the main characters wore cloaks and had swords. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the “cloak and sword” term in 1840, whereas Charles Dickens preferred “cloak and dagger” a year later.
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Synonyms
43 synonymssecretB1surreptitiousC2undergroundB2covertclandestineundercoverabstrusebehind the scenescatlikebackroombackstairsstealthconcealedconfidential
Close in meaning
- conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods:clandestinehole-and-cornerhugger-muggerhush-hushsecretsurreptitiousundercoverunderground
Word family
2 related wordsRelatedcloak-and-sworder
Derivedcloak-and-daggery