as in off-the-record
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Recent Examples of off-the-books
Aishe is an undocumented immigrant from China’s Uyghur minority, scraping by doing off-the-books jobs in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens.
—
Peter Larsen, Daily News, 3 Sep. 2025
Scott got his first paying job at age 11, an off-the-books gig at A Bicycle Odyssey, a bike shop in Sausalito, California, frequented by the likes of Robin Williams, members of the band The Grateful Dead and Huey Lewis.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
In the 2021 film, Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) stars as Hutch Mansell, a by-the-numbers working stiff who harbors a secret past as an off-the-books government assassin.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Over the years, law enforcement officers have responded to dozens of calls to these casinos for crimes more violent than off-the-books gambling.
—Josh Salman, Miami Herald, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for off-the-books
Peter Larsen, Daily News, 3 Sep. 2025
Scott got his first paying job at age 11, an off-the-books gig at A Bicycle Odyssey, a bike shop in Sausalito, California, frequented by the likes of Robin Williams, members of the band The Grateful Dead and Huey Lewis.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
In the 2021 film, Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) stars as Hutch Mansell, a by-the-numbers working stiff who harbors a secret past as an off-the-books government assassin.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Over the years, law enforcement officers have responded to dozens of calls to these casinos for crimes more violent than off-the-books gambling.
—Josh Salman, Miami Herald, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for off-the-books
Recent Examples of Synonyms for off-the-books
Adjective
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Sometimes these occur during our quarterly CEO forums, in public but off-the-record exchanges.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
13 Jan. 2026
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Puck promises off-the-record conversations with editors in their top subscription tier, and Lauren Sherman often recaps her off-the-record dinners on her podcast and in her column.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
29 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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To create this unique cinematic experience, Stewart and Poots endured rigorous trial-and-error shoots, tough training days in clandestine New York pool houses.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 Jan. 2026
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Saimar Rivas, Armas’s partner and a longtime civil-rights activist, told me that he had been taken to a clandestine site run by the SEBIN, Venezuela’s intelligence agency.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
-
But Prayer is not your humdrum, surreptitious post–Cowboy Carter cash-out.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
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Jamian Juliano-Villani’s friezelike painting Women, 2024, offers a surreptitious turn on Marcel Duchamp and Eadweard Muybridge by featuring an ostensibly female figure with too many (and ambiguously gendered) appendages.—
Tim Griffin,
Artforum,
1 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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According to the District Attorney’s Office, Akers was working undercover as part of a task force when Stewart, 46, ran from uniformed law enforcement officers and then hid inside an unlocked tow truck.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
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The undercover investigators later spoke with Lorenz by phone.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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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
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Oman played an instrumental role in the back-channel negotiations between Iran, the United States, and Europe that led to the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.—
Galip Dalay,
Time,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.—
Hannah Gold,
New Yorker,
21 Jan. 2026
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After Cruise's Ethan Hunt is falsely accused of planting a bomb that nearly obliterates the Kremlin, he is secretly tasked with exposing the real culprit, teaming with fellow agents Jane (Paula Patton) and Benji (Simon Pegg) and an intelligence analyst (Jeremy Renner) on a covert mission.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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In other words, these books about distinctly private and often erotic events have recently gained a more political and combative edge.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
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The 25-year-old charity has run largely on money raised through private donations and popular fundraisers.—
Andrea Lucia,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Off-the-books.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off-the-books. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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