as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
an influential Washington lobbyist who has been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions
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Recent Examples of backstairs
And in North Carolina, a boyish trial lawyer with jury-pleasing charm (John Edwards) knocked off Lauch Faircloth, a GOP senator who played a backstairs role in getting Kenneth Starr appointed as independent counsel.
—
Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019
Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backstairs
Adjective
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The Gestapo, Hitler’s secret police, combed the Poles’ ranks in search of men with experience in clandestine resistance organizations.—
Paul Hockenos,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 May 2025
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Alongside the harbour in Lerwick are five fishing boats, once part of the clandestine Anglo-Norwegian Shetland Bus mission, and the wartime cargo ship Hestmanden.—
Heather Farmbrough,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Samuel French, a Texas actor on the rise who portrayed the undercover FBI agent CJ Robinson in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2025
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Pisano has been with the show since his 2021 debut as undercover officer Detective Joe Velasco.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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This would suggest pockets of water in deep underground aquifers.—
Victoria Corless,
Space.com,
12 May 2025
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Earlier this year, researchers announced the discovery of a brick underground aqueduct in Slovakia.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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That includes Tom Cruise, as covert CIA division agent Ethan Hunt, riding a motorcycle off a 4,000-foot cliff and BASE jumping the final 500 feet of a ravine, or the breathless climactic train mayhem in 2023’s Dead Reckoning, the opening installment of this two-parter.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2025
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In an opinion piece published by the Venezuelan independent newspaper La Razón, former lawmaker Omar González Moreno recounted the covert mission that freed him and four others without a single shot being fired.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Domin encouraged residents to contact school district officials with ideas to work on private partnerships.—
Mary Divine,
Twin Cities,
13 May 2025
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But her time in public service became entangled with a private business.—
Verónica Egui Brito,
Miami Herald,
13 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backstairs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backstairs. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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