PRIVATELY Synonyms: 28 Similar and Opposite Words

privately

adverb

as in secretly

in a manner intended to prevent knowledge or awareness by others she confided to me privately that she was considering divorce

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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 privately Who’s in attendance changes from year to year—Prince William and Princess Kate, for example, sat out the 2024 and 2025 outings to spend the holiday privately as a family—but the rituals themselves remain mostly the same. —

Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 4 Apr. 2026 Last month, Bondi attempted to privately brief lawmakers on the committee about the Epstein documents alongside Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. —

Maegan Vazquez The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 4 Apr. 2026 And landowners in the region that have land along the border, this is Texas and the land is privately owned, need to give permission to the feds to survey the property and ultimately make an offer. —

Dana Taylor, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026 And Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama’s attorney general, was criticized for meeting privately with former President Bill Clinton while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was under investigation by the DOJ. —

Jennifer Selin, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026 Anthropic is also privately warning government officials about the potential for large-scale cyberattacks enabled by Mythos, according to Axios. —

Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2026 The family didn't attend Easter again in 2025, instead spending the holiday privately at their country home in Norfolk. —

Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 3 Apr. 2026 The mural project was privately commissioned and was being painted on the exterior of a private business. —

Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2026 The administration has also repeatedly claimed the ballroom will be privately financed and will not rely on taxpayer funding. —

Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 2 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for privately

Adverb

Using a synesthetic logic all his own, Torres explains why Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson is orange, Catholicism is purple, and navy blue is the nefarious color that secretly runs the world.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
In 2012, the gossip site Gawker, infamous for smearing conservative activists, published embarrassing footage of Hogan that had been secretly recorded and had no legitimate news value.

— George Harris, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026