furtive vs lighthanded

furtive

adj
  • Of a person, etc.: inclined to steal; pilfering, thieving. 

  • Of a thing: done with evasive or guilty secrecy. 

  • Of a thing: that has been acquired by theft; stolen; also (generally) taken stealthily. 

  • Of a person or an animal: sly, stealthy. 

lighthanded

adj
  • Thieving. 

  • flippant. 

  • nimble and dextrous; 

  • Light-hearted. 

  • Sparing. 

  • benign and with minimal intervention. 

  • Not having a full complement of workers. 

adv
  • Carrying very little. 

  • In a light-handed manner. 

How often have the words furtive and lighthanded occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )