Meanings
- Conducted in secret; clandestine.
Whatever made you think in the first place that I would give up the security of my happy marriage for a hole-and-corner affair with you?
1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 901 more example
The Baron rather frowned on such things, thinking them injudicious at the present stage of affairs, so His Highness had to go about them in a hole and corner manner.
1925, Agatha Christie, The Secret of ChimneysSynonyms: cloak-and-dagger
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveConducted in secret; clandestine.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiverelating to the peripheral and unimportant aspects of life
adjectiveconducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
hole-and-corner. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hole-and-corner
“hole-and-corner.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hole-and-corner. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hole-and-corner,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hole-and-corner.
Source: hole-and-corner on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.