secretly

[see-krit-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that is kept from the knowledge of others or is designed to escape their notice.

   He later discovered that the couple had secretly married in a discreet ceremony six months ago.

   Many of the wood and stone looks you see in homes every day are secretly vinyl flooring.

Other Word Forms

• nonsecretly adverb
• quasi-secretly adverb
• semisecretly adverb
• ultrasecretly adverb
• unsecretly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of secretly¹

secret ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

‘I gave up a job that I loved passionately’: My husband secretly set up a trust that includes our home and his investments.

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‘I gave up a job that I loved passionately’: My husband secretly set up a trust that includes our home and his investments.

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Mostly they are performed for the pleasure of men, but they can be adapted to secretly subversive ends.

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Those tactics included secretly cornering slivers of the financial markets and “watering” stock—defrauding investors by issuing shares well above their book value.

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The friend suspected her former domestic partner, Alfred “Al” Labrada, who was then an assistant chief in the Los Angeles Police Department, had secretly planted the AirTag to monitor her movements after they broke up.

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Related Words

• clandestinely www.thesaurus.com
• covertly 
• furtively 
• personally 
• privately www.thesaurus.com
• quietly 
• stealthily 
• surreptitiously