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
Opening the case, prosecutor Naeem Valli said Connolly also sent a message saying she intended to work her notice period as a childminder "on the sly" - despite being de-registered.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2024
We were forbidden to speak Urdu, but my mother still taught us on the sly.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
Show up to volunteer and Ignazio Vivirito, 83, who is always cooking something, might slip you a fresh-baked biscotti or a snack of bread and cheese on the sly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
Do my thoughts trade places like letters, on the sly?
From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes
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.
