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
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Recent Examples of secretly
As the New York Times reported the day before the company showed off its Blue Jay robot, Amazon is secretly looking to eventually replace more than 600,000 jobs with robots.
—
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Feb. 2026
Hogan and his men secretly functioned as an espionage and sabotage operation, successfully manipulating the inept Germans over the course of 168 episodes.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 18 Feb. 2026
Some people use burner accounts for privacy, while others use them for trolling, harassment, spying or secretly viewing content.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Feb. 2026
Perhaps there’s some unseen optimism guiding Sarah, imbuing the film with a secretly uplifting quality, despite the gloomy subject matter.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Those who left their homes to protest the murder of George Floyd weren’t secretly focussed on the diversity statistics at Bank of America or on the faculty lounge at Wesleyan University, but that moment of mass dissent got processed through the media, the government, and corporate America.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2026
They wed secretly on September 21, 1996, holding an intimate ceremony on Georgia’s Cumberland Island that miraculously evaded press attention.
—Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
His drinking appears to have led to Laura secretly slugging down alcohol as a child.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026
Presidents Day weekend is secretly the best time to upgrade your winter boots.
—Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 16 Feb. 2026
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Feb. 2026
Hogan and his men secretly functioned as an espionage and sabotage operation, successfully manipulating the inept Germans over the course of 168 episodes.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 18 Feb. 2026
Some people use burner accounts for privacy, while others use them for trolling, harassment, spying or secretly viewing content.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Feb. 2026
Perhaps there’s some unseen optimism guiding Sarah, imbuing the film with a secretly uplifting quality, despite the gloomy subject matter.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Those who left their homes to protest the murder of George Floyd weren’t secretly focussed on the diversity statistics at Bank of America or on the faculty lounge at Wesleyan University, but that moment of mass dissent got processed through the media, the government, and corporate America.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2026
They wed secretly on September 21, 1996, holding an intimate ceremony on Georgia’s Cumberland Island that miraculously evaded press attention.
—Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
His drinking appears to have led to Laura secretly slugging down alcohol as a child.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026
Presidents Day weekend is secretly the best time to upgrade your winter boots.
—Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 16 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secretly
Adverb
-
But privately displayed signs of support have largely disappeared.—
Elizaveta Gaufman,
The Conversation,
21 Feb. 2026
-
The former prince moved to Sandringham Estate, which is privately owned by his brother King Charles III, less than three weeks before his arrest.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
The day after his passing, Netflix released an interview with Dane for its Famous Last Words series that was confidentially recorded in November 2025, with the understanding that it would be released only after his death.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
20 Feb. 2026
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Detainees have a constitutional right to speak confidentially with an attorney.—
Claudia Boyd-Barrett,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Secretly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secretly. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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