furtive vs underhanded

furtive

adj
  • 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. 

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

underhanded

adj
  • Secret; surreptitious. 

  • Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below. 

  • Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating. 

  • Insincere; sarcastic. 

  • An underhanded compliment is actually criticism. 

  • His underhanded trick backfired and he was disqualified. 

  • Understaffed. 

adv
  • In an underhanded manner. 

noun
  • Devious people, collectively. 

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