covertly
adv.in a secret or hidden way. You use this when someone does something without others knowing it is happening.
adv.in a secret or hidden manner; without being openly acknowledged or observed.
“The two countries worked covertly to reach a peace agreement.”
“The spy moved through the city covertly, wearing a plain suit to avoid drawing attention to himself.”
“While the official policy remained unchanged, the government operated covertly to support the local resistance, fearing that public knowledge would provoke a military response.”
“JL Partners’ co-founder James Johnson was covertly filmed discussing the Reform polling, telling one of the reporters that his company had done “a little bit of informal rule-bending” in relation to one survey.”
“Businesses and local councils around Australia are increasingly imposing their own restrictions on "smart glasses," responding to customers' concerns about being covertly recorded in public places.”
From Middle English covertli, equivalent to covert + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.