Synonyms of secretly

secretly

adverb

as in privately

in a manner intended to prevent knowledge or awareness by others

the girl secretly told her friends about the birthday party so it would be a surprise to the birthday girl

Synonyms & Similar Words

• privately
• confidentially
• in private
• intimately
• backstage
• in camera
• covertly
• clandestinely
• inwardly
• à deux
• tête-à-tête
• surreptitiously
• furtively
• secretively
• stealthily
• sneakily
• conspiratorially
• collusively
• underhandedly
• sotto voce
• underground
• undercover
• offstage
• offscreen
• underhanded
• underhand

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• publicly
• openly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of secretly

The two-term congressman missed months of votes earlier this year as he was secretly being treated for depression. — CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026

American officials told the Wall Street Journal that Washington had conducted similar attacks secretly in recent weeks. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2026

However, the assignment secretly contained malicious software and was downloaded onto a Binance work laptop. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 3 Nov. 2026

The podcast host made the announcement days after PEOPLE confirmed that Chrisley and the businessman, 56, secretly married on July 14 at Cayman Islands Baptist Church. — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2026

But even as Cook stood astride show business, his life was secretly being dismantled under his feet. — Josh Eells, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2026

For example, a Milwaukee police officer resigned this year after he was accused of secretly using Flock to learn the location of his romantic partner 124 times and that partner’s ex 55 times, according to court records. — Graham Hurley, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026

Erlichman was unsuccessful but secretly paid the difference in her weekly salary himself. — Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 1 Nov. 2026

Trump officials asked a cybersecurity agency to secretly acquire a voting machine — and hack it. — ProPublica, 30 Oct. 2026