in secret

Idioms  

1. Unknown to others, privately. For example, They met in secret, or, as Shakespeare put it in Love's Labour's Lost (5:2): “One word in secret.” [Second half of 1400s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

in secret

Those sent to Ghana were held in secret at a remote military base without charges.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

They told ProPublica it’s likely the first time in modern history that so many consequential decisions were made in secret by its nine members.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

Because this often happens in secret, you might never find out who helped or harmed your chances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

"I'm probably on the phone to my mother in secret asking to borrow that extra bit of cash," she says.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Sometimes at night, in secret, I still limp purposefully around my apartment, like Mr. Hyde, trying to recover my old ways of seeing and thinking.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Related Words

• clandestinely
• covertly
• furtively
• personally
• privately
• quietly
• stealthily
• surreptitiously