on the sly
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The math-proficiency analysis suggests it may be doing so on the sly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
He was paroled from detention but banned from work and national health insurance, though he worked on the sly until about eight years ago, when the government started to tighten controls over parolees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
You started taking hormones kind of on the sly for a couple of weeks before you even talked to your wife.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2023
When Burnett was growing up in Brooklyn, dancing was something he had to do on the sly.
From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2021
He spent his time reading Jaime’s books, which Blanca brought him on the sly, and listening to the street sounds and to the whisper of the radio, which he kept at the lowest volume.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
