Meanings
- not comparableIn secret, covertly.
Mary cheated secretly in the test, and never got caught.
1 more example
Sometimes her prose hyperventilates ("Once, years ago, his and N.'s love for each other had glowed like phosphorescent fire on the surfaces of their bodies"), and she has a weakness for epiphanies ("There was a man, no longer young, though not yet old, who, traveling alone in northern Europe, began to feel that his soul was being drained slowly, almost secretly from him, drop by drop").
1988 February 10, James Atlas, “DABBLING IN LOVE - NOT THE NICE KIND”, in The New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin secrecy; not openly
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek κρυφῇ, λάθρᾳ
- κρυφῇ (kruphēî)in a secret manner
- λάθρᾳ (láthrāi)in a secret manner
- λαθραίως (lathraíōs)in a secret manner
Arabic سِرًّا
- سِرًّا (sirran)in a secret manner
Bulgarian тайно, незабелязано
- тайно (tajno)in a secret manner
- незабелязано (nezabeljazano)in a secret manner
Catalan secretament, cobertament
- secretamentin a secret manner
- cobertamentin a secret manner
- en secretin a secret manner
Chinese Mandarin 偷偷
- 偷偷 (tōutōu)in a secret manner
Czech tajně
- tajněin a secret manner
Danish hemmeligt, i dølgsmål
- hemmeligtin a secret manner
- i dølgsmålin a secret manner
Dutch stiekem
- stiekemin a secret manner
Esperanto sekrete
- sekretein a secret manner
Finnish salaa, salaisesti
- salaain a secret manner
- salaisestiin a secret manner
- salassain a secret manner
- vaivihkaain a secret manner
French secrètement, en cachette
- secrètementin a secret manner
- en cachettein a secret manner
German heimlich, insgeheim
- heimlichin a secret manner
- insgeheimin a secret manner
Greek κρυφά, μυστικά
- κρυφά (kryfá)in a secret manner
- μυστικά (mystiká)in a secret manner
- κρυφᾷ (kruphāî)in a secret manner
Hindi चुपके, छुपके
- चुपके (cupke)in a secret manner
- छुपके (chupke)in a secret manner
Hungarian titkon, titokban
- titkonin a secret manner
- titokbanin a secret manner
Irish gan fhios
- gan fhiosin a secret manner
Italian di nascosto
- di nascostoin a secret manner
Japanese ひそかに
- ひそかに (hisoka ni)in a secret manner
Korean 몰래
- 몰래 (mollae)in a secret manner
Latin clam, furtim
- clamin a secret manner
- furtimin a secret manner
- latenterin a secret manner
Latvian slepeni
- slepeniin a secret manner
Polish potajemnie
- potajemniein a secret manner
Portuguese secretamente
- secretamentein a secret manner
Russian та́йно, секре́тно
- та́йно (tájno)in a secret manner
- секре́тно (sekrétno)in a secret manner
- тайко́м (tajkóm)in a secret manner
- вта́йне (vtájne)in a secret manner
- скры́тно (skrýtno)in a secret manner
Scottish Gaelic os ìosal
- os ìosalin a secret manner
Spanish secretamente, en secreto
- secretamentein a secret manner
- en secretoin a secret manner
- caletain a secret manner
- a escondidasin a secret manner
- a escondidillasin a secret manner
- de extranjisin a secret manner
- de tapadilloin a secret manner
Ukrainian тає́мно
- тає́мно (tajémno)in a secret manner
Cite this entry
secretly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretly
“secretly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secretly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secretly.
Source: secretly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.