back-channel

adjective

Definition of back-channelnext
as in off-the-record

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of back-channel In July 1971, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, arrived in Beijing on his famous secret mission — the back-channel visit that helped re-open the door between two countries that had little direct contact for more than two decades. — Xianda Huang, The Conversation, 16 May 2026 The messiness of a 13-year scientific undertaking, the back-channel negotiations, the philosophical disagreements, the institutional maneuvering — none of that fits neatly into an obituary. — Zachary Utz, STAT, 15 May 2026 The indictment alleges that after the NIH terminated a bat coronavirus grant to EcoHealth Alliance, Morens and co-conspirators pledged to help restore the grant and used back-channel communications to influence NIH funding decisions while deliberately avoiding transparency requirements. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026 At the center of the potential outreach is Vice President JD Vance, who is being considered for a return trip to Islamabad, where back-channel negotiations have quietly taken place. — Sara Cook, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026 Epstein, the records show, tried to initiate a back-channel meeting between the Saudi crown prince and Qatar’s ex-prime minister. — Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026 Elyssa Slotkin, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tim Kaine to back-channel conversations have been poo-poo’d by party leadership as unhelpful. — Philip Elliott, Time, 18 Mar. 2026 Both the president’s team and the rule-of-law defenders launched back-channel negotiations with the capitalists. — Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026 Pras was also accused of using this money to create a back-channel campaign to extradite the Chinese dissident Guo Wengui back to China from the United States. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back-channel
  1. off-the-record
  2. closed-door
  3. off-the-books
  4. clandestine
  5. surreptitious
  6. covert
Adjective
  • Dialog has been described as Bilderberg (an off-the-record gathering of political and business elite) meets Silicon Valley salon.
    — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
  • As late as last week, Weiss was still expected to speak at The Seminar, an off-the-record gathering of PR professionals in Scottsdale, Arizona.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 8 June 2026
Definition of off-the-record
Adjective
  • Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, was one of three U.S. officials to participate in a closed-door meeting with the Russian delegation on Friday in Alaska.
    — Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The revelation was made by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) after Barr testified in a closed-door interview during the House Oversight Committee’s investigation of the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case.
    — Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of closed-door
Adjective
  • In Disclosure Day, cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (O’Connor) steals files confirming alien contact from the Wardex Corporation, an off-the-books non-governmental organization.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
  • But statistics fail to convey the humanity of yard sales—the caprice, whimsy, and high spirits, as well as the cunning, weirdness, and heartbreak, that charge and thicken the air when two people agree to perform an off-the-books monetary transaction.
    — Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026
Definition of off-the-books
Adjective
  • That the actual, original Antifa formed in clandestine resistance to Nazi terror during the early 1930s appears lost amid the rhetorical vagaries of political propaganda.
    — Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 10 July 2026
  • Russia and China are seeking the capability to disable and eventually destroy Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, an investigation found, as the allies deepen their clandestine military cooperation.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 9 July 2026
Definition of clandestine
Adjective
  • These cybercriminals are like the Hollywood movie character Jason Bourne, a highly surreptitious operative who avoids detection through diversion, disguises, deflecting and blending into the environment.
    — Eric Herzog, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • Related Stories Known to be a rebellious royal and a surreptitious anti-fascist, Maria José then moved to Portugal and soon left her husband.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 17 June 2026
Definition of surreptitious
Adjective
  • Lioness stars Nicole Kidman, Zoe Saldaña, and Morgan Freeman, and follows an all-female CIA team known as the Lionesses, who conduct covert missions in the War on Terror.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022, following his covert invasions of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and eastern regions in 2014, Russian forces have captured roughly 12% of Ukraine’s territory.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of covert

Browse Nearby Words

backbreaking
back-channel
backchat
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Cite this Entry

“Back-channel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back-channel. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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