off-the-books

adjective

Definition of off-the-booksnext
as in off-the-record

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of off-the-books Another has an off-the-books wager against OpenAI, which is privately held. — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 26 Feb. 2026 In 1985, Marty McFly (played by Lucas Hallauer) is a skateboarding high schooler who is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time machine — ensconced in a DeLorean sports car — by nutty off-the-books scientist Doc Brown (David Josefsberg). — Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 5 Feb. 2026 Helen sends him on an off-the-books job to the London Mother House to use his mind-probing powers on Jasper (William Fichtner), a powerful vampire with a personal vendetta against the Talamasca. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025 Helen wants him for an off-the-books quest to find a possibly mythical object called the Seven Five Two, and an even more off-the-books quest to find answers about a formative childhood trauma involving the Talamasca. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for off-the-books
Recent Examples of Synonyms for off-the-books
  1. off-the-record
  2. clandestine
  3. closed-door
  4. surreptitious
  5. undercover
  6. back-channel
  7. covert
  8. private
Adjective
  • Dialog has been described as Bilderberg (an off-the-record gathering of political and business elite) meets Silicon Valley salon.
    — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
  • As late as last week, Weiss was still expected to speak at The Seminar, an off-the-record gathering of PR professionals in Scottsdale, Arizona.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 8 June 2026
Definition of off-the-record
Adjective
  • That was a concern because other research has indicated the Chinese government has, at times, delayed public disclosure of vulnerabilities submitted to the program so they could later be used in clandestine cyberattacks.
    — Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • The screening usually focusses on clandestine hanky-panky, but this season the girls’ irreverence was so abundant that the producers treated them to an unprecedented second viewing night.
    — Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 27 June 2026
Definition of clandestine
Adjective
  • Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, was one of three U.S. officials to participate in a closed-door meeting with the Russian delegation on Friday in Alaska.
    — Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The revelation was made by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) after Barr testified in a closed-door interview during the House Oversight Committee’s investigation of the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case.
    — Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of closed-door
Adjective
  • These cybercriminals are like the Hollywood movie character Jason Bourne, a highly surreptitious operative who avoids detection through diversion, disguises, deflecting and blending into the environment.
    — Eric Herzog, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • Related Stories Known to be a rebellious royal and a surreptitious anti-fascist, Maria José then moved to Portugal and soon left her husband.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 17 June 2026
Definition of surreptitious
Adjective
  • Duties include developing operation plans and going undercover.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026
  • In exchange, one of the agents asked Lumumba to move the city’s deadline for the hotel project from April 30 to April 10 or 15, giving the undercover FBI agents an advantage over other developers.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • In July 1971, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, arrived in Beijing on his famous secret mission — the back-channel visit that helped re-open the door between two countries that had little direct contact for more than two decades.
    — Xianda Huang, The Conversation, 16 May 2026
  • The messiness of a 13-year scientific undertaking, the back-channel negotiations, the philosophical disagreements, the institutional maneuvering — none of that fits neatly into an obituary.
    — Zachary Utz, STAT, 15 May 2026
Definition of back-channel
Adjective
  • To achieve this, Israel employed airstrikes, cyberattacks, interdictions of weapons and covert action to impede Iran’s ability to resupply Hezbollah’s existing arsenal and supply it with more advanced weapons.
    — Amy McAuliffe, The Conversation, 26 June 2026
  • After 1996, when the protease inhibitors were developed, the duty to warn continued to be an important standard when HIV status became more clinically covert.
    — M. Sara Rosenthal, STAT, 25 June 2026
Definition of covert
Adjective
  • Gabriella paid off most of his entourage to leave him and the band alone and is now basically his own private Joe Jackson, pressuring him to record nonstop.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 6 July 2026
  • The Castro family has been linked, through GAESA chiefly, to a lucrative world of hotels, banks, retail monopolies, foreign-currency businesses, foreign private compounds and offshore accounts.
    — Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of private

Browse Nearby Words

off the bat
off-the-books
off-the-cuff
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Off-the-books.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off-the-books. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

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