Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cloak-and-dagger

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.25 in modern English

Syllables: cloak-and-dag-ger
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Marked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved.

Example Sentences

"Israel wages cloak-and-dagger war on Iran [headline]"
"Two years after ordering the mass internment of German refugees at the start of the second world war, the British government put a small, elite group of them in military uniforms and sent them on a secret cloak-and-dagger mission to occupied Dieppe to snatch an Enigma coding machine from under the Nazis’ noses."

Etymology

Calque 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.

Phrases

cloak-and-daggery cloak-and-sworder

Frequently Paired Words

cloak-and-sworder

Synonyms

covert clandestine undercover abstruse behind the scenes catlike backroom backstairs stealth cloak-and-dagger concealed confidential

Questions

What does cloak-and-dagger mean?: Marked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved.
Where does cloak-and-dagger come from?: Calque 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.

How to pronounce cloak-and-dagger

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