covertly

adverb

Definition of covertlynext
as in clandestinely

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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 covertly Over the decades, there has been no shortage of sites using clever techniques to covertly track visitors’ browsing histories, device fingerprints, and log keystrokes and mouse movements in real time. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026 These word puzzles all covertly reference the years-old disappearance of Charlie, Martha’s brilliant older sister. — The Know, Denver Post, 4 June 2026 Munn has been suggesting Friday Night Lights to her 18-year-old stepdaughter, covertly slipping the show into the teen’s favorites across her streaming apps. — Sierra Leone Starks, Parents, 30 June 2026 The key difference lies in the process for converting the fissile material to be bomb usable (chemical reprocessing in the case of plutonium, rather than enrichment, which can be done covertly and in small batches). — Ilan Berman, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 Many liberals had been disciplined to adopt methods that purported to strictly confine legal interpretation, only to discover that their most prominent adherents, whether covertly or unconsciously, had other plans. — Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 2 July 2026 Questions persist about accountability and transparency in drone programs, particularly those operated covertly by intelligence agencies rather than traditional armed forces. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026 According to the Financial times, Cowgill was covertly filmed in 2021 in the front seat of a black Mercedes talking to Footasylum chief executive Barry Bown. — Stephen Garner, Footwear News, 11 May 2026 Meehan and Sabres player development director Don Luce traveled to Sweden, where Mogilny was competing in a tournament, and covertly ushered him back to North America. — ABC News, 6 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for covertly
  1. clandestinely
  2. conspiratorially
  3. surreptitiously
Adverb
  • This great disparity between reality and story, truth and history, takes on new dimensions when Robin clandestinely takes refuge at an island priory where Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer) tends to his wounds.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 June 2026
  • Other examples of politically motivated pirate radio can be found around the world, some of them clandestinely backed by governmental intelligence agencies, but many of them existing as truly grassroots endeavors.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
Definition of clandestinely
Adverb
  • Fro-yo heads will tell you, conspiratorially, that Butterfield Market is rumored to have the same supplier as Forty Carrots, the café tucked away on the seventh floor of Bloomingdale’s which claims to have introduced frozen yogurt to New York City some fifty years ago.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
  • That Hanson so could faithfully and conspiratorially convey that in her naturalistic, uncontrived images came from a place of friendship.
    — Mark Holgate, Vogue, 5 Sep. 2025
Definition of conspiratorially
Adverb
  • As a group of dancers surrounded her on the B-stage, she was surreptitiously harnessed into a rig that carried her aloft, limp yet belting, into the heavens, or at least into what looked like a UFO hovering over the arena.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 7 June 2026
  • Gray-hat hackers, unlike white-hats, surreptitiously sneak into corporate systems to find security vulnerabilities.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
Definition of surreptitiously

Browse Nearby Words

covert
covertly
covertness
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Cite this Entry

“Covertly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/covertly. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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