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
We were forbidden to speak Urdu, but my mother still taught us on the sly.
From New York Times • Mar. 1, 2024
Sometimes, developers bought up units on the sly, knowing that control over assessments and expenditures could come as soon as a majority.
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2021
A vivid and wryly-observed pop anthem, it sees Peters confronting an ex who badmouths her in public, but still calls her on the sly.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2021
“They weren’t courtin’ on the sly or anything like that.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
