Meanings
- idiomaticSlyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily.
This diversion was enjoyed on the sly, and unknown to the ladies of the house.
1857, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 16, in The Virginians1 more example
He was working for us on the sly at the Herald-Traveler-Record-American (before it shortened its topheavy name), then as now a reactionary, homophobic rag. Evidently he placed himself at some risk to help us, I learned later, because he was threatened with dismissal for his unauthorized use of the typesetter.
1984 December 15, John Kyper, “Remembering David Stryker”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 22, page 5Synonyms: clandestinely, furtively, on the down-low, on the quiet, on the Q.T.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbSlyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbin a furtive manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 偷偷, 悄悄
- 偷偷 (tōutōu)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- 悄悄 (qiāoqiāo)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Dutch in het geheim
- in het geheimslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Finnish vaivihkaa, salaa
- vaivihkaaslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- salaaslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
French en douce, à la dérobée
- en douceslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- à la dérobéeslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- en cachetteslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- à la sauvetteslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
German heimlich
- heimlichslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Hungarian titokban, lopva
- titokbanslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- lopvaslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- alattombanslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- suttyombanslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Polish ukradkiem
- ukradkiemslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Russian втихаря́, исподтишка́
- втихаря́ (vtixarjá)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- исподтишка́ (ispodtišká)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- тайко́м (tajkóm)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- укра́дкой (ukrádkoj)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- потихо́ньку (potixónʹku)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- тихо́нько (tixónʹko)slyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Spanish de extranjis, de tapadillo
- de extranjisslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- de tapadilloslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- a escondidasslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- a escondidillasslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- a cencerros tapadosslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- a lo zorroslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
- caletaslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Swedish i smyg
- i smygslyly, in an inconspicuous manner, so as not to be seen; secretly; stealthily
Cite this entry
on the sly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20sly
“on the sly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20sly. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the sly,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20sly.
Source: on the sly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.