covertly

[ koh-vert-lee, koh-vert- ]

adverb

1. in a way that is concealed or disguised; secretly:

   The witness alleges that the FBI asked him to covertly record conversations with his boss in a bid to tie him to a criminal hacking conspiracy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of covertly¹

covert ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Do it in an obvious wayDon’t try to record covertly or hide away your camera, experts say.

From Washington Post

Equally impressive, the Bailey bridge could be rolled across a gap from one side to the other, making it possible to build covertly or with little access to the other side.

From Vox

Harassing a pregnant Republican House member so often that she covertly changed desks.

From Washington Post

Harrison said that the officers had body-worn cameras but that because they were in covert capacity, it is not known whether the cameras were on them or turned on during the exchange of gunfire.

From Washington Post

Adobe said it has found a way to help news outlets build trust by enabling their readers to check whether news photos are deepfakes, or images covertly manipulated by artificial intelligence.

From Fortune

A junta can do it, using their military power to overtly or covertly control decisions at the highest level.

From The Daily Beast

One cannot rule out the possibility of covertly-trained attack iguanas.

From The Daily Beast

They will find ways to punish you covertly and reward those that do go along with their narrative.

From The Daily Beast

Amid this backdrop Sir John ordered the General Post Office (GPO) covertly to monitor the King's telephone calls.

From The Daily Beast

Washington worked covertly because he needed to protect his university from real and violent danger.

From The Daily Beast

He half-turned, once in a while, to cast a covertly-admiring glance at the young officers seated at their rear.

From Project Gutenberg

Once June saw him covertly looking at his watch and she put both hands to her throat—stifled.

From Project Gutenberg

Finkenstein and Kalkstein were always covertly rather of the Queen's party, and now stand reprimanded, and in marked disfavor.

From Project Gutenberg

Having joined forces, all three of the plotters had advanced covertly upon Matt and Chub.

From Project Gutenberg

Koyala covertly studied the resident's profile, so boyish, yet so masterfully stern, as he gazed into the forest depths.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clandestinely
• secretly
• surreptitiously