in secret

ADJECTIVE

behind-the-scenes

Synonyms

WEAK

backstage behind the curtain in a corner in the dark out of public view sub-rosa

ADVERB

huggermugger

Synonyms

WEAK

behind closed doors behind someone's back by stealth clandestinely confidentially covertly furtively hush-hush in camera in confidence in holes and corners in strict confidence insidiously intimately o obscurely on the Q.T.

ADVERB

secretly

Synonyms

STRONGEST

clandestinely covertly furtively personally privately quietly stealthily surreptitiously

WEAK

behind closed doors behind someone's back by stealth confidentially hush-hush in camera in confidence in holes and corners in strict confidence insidiously intimately obscurely on the Q.T. on the quiet on the sly privily slyly sub-rosa under the table underhandedly unobserved

Antonyms

STRONGEST

publicly

WEAK

openly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Previous deportees were held in secret at a military base outside Accra by armed guards.

From Barron's • May 30, 2026

Roosevelt was aware of the critics and thus had the Tennis Cabinet operate mostly in secret.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

“Any self-imposed pause could lift at any moment, in secret and without warning,” the Maryland Attorney General’s Office wrote in response.

From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026

In 2024, Armenta and Barrera reunited again in secret to hash out what would be Grupo Frontera and Fuerza Regida’s joint EP, “Mala Mía” — “without either group knowing,” Armenta said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

Maybe I could study the eighteenth century in secret.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

in secret

Example Sentences

Related Words