secretly
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of secretly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Later, Styles also thanked his mother, Anne, who secretly signed him up for The X Factor when he was just 16 years old.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
When I was 17, I started an internship at the now-revered magazine Sassy, where I hoped, also secretly, that I might glean some wardrobe intel from the staff of cool twentysomething women.
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026
Soon after, Fatima secretly joins a dating app, hoping to understand her queerness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
Still, he secretly carried his debt around like an invisible weight.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
“Maybe I’ll ask Sara to go with me,” I say, secretly hoping Maddy will be jealous.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.