COVERTLY Synonyms: 27 Similar and Opposite Words

covertly

adverb

Definition of covertly

as in clandestinely

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Recent Examples of covertly Also quite useful while breaking down cardboard boxes and covertly tossing kid art projects. — Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 7 Aug. 2026 Israel had captured these portable systems in the October 1973 war with Egypt and Syria and covertly transferred them to the Kurds in return for equivalent American systems. — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 Officials recently unveiled a collection of 130-year-old wine that was covertly hidden beneath a chapel floor in a medieval castle. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 18 July 2026 What has received less attention are the ways that Chinese actors are already exploiting existing AI tools—many of them American—to covertly expand China’s power around the world. — Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 7 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 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 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 These word puzzles all covertly reference the years-old disappearance of Charlie, Martha’s brilliant older sister. — The Know, Denver Post, 4 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for covertly

Adverb

Because Iran is a theocratic dictatorship that routinely arrests and in some cases executes journalists, Western reporters hoping to cover the country must either work clandestinely or submit to government supervision.

— James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 29 July 2026
Soon afterward, social media commenters were speculating about whether Sierra broke into the office or was caught clandestinely shredding documents.

— Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 10 July 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

Right now, there are no indications exploits are being used to install anything other than Monero miners, which surreptitiously harness a Mac’s resources to perform mathematical operations that generate the cryptocurrency for the attacker.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2026
That's not the first time a president surreptitiously switched planes.

— Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of surreptitiously

Browse Nearby Words

covert

covertly

covertness

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“Covertly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/covertly. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of covertly

adverb

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