secretly
/ˈsiː.kɹɪt.li/adverb
secretly is spelled S-E-C-R-E-T-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, secretly means “In secret, covertly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in secretly?
| Letters | 8: S-E-C-R-E-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is secretly?
Secretly appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce secretly?
- /ˈsiː.kɹɪt.li/
- /ˈsiː.kɹət.li/
Secretly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-secretly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does secretly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In secret, covertly.
Mary cheated secretly in the test, and never got caught.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Secretly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a secret manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | secrètement, en cachette |
| German | heimlich, insgeheim |
| Portuguese | secretamente |
| Spanish | secretamente, en secreto, caleta, a escondidas, a escondidillas, de extranjis |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does secretly come from?
From secret + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).