privatelyadverb
uk/ˈpraɪ.vət.li/us/ˈpraɪ.vət.li/privately adverb (PERSONAL)
B2 in secret, or with only one or two other people present:
She spoke privately with the manager.
Despite his public support, privately (= secretly) he was worried.
More examples
- I'd prefer it if we could speak privately.
- Though he had tried to be enthusiastic about the plans, privately he felt more sceptical.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Secrecy and privacy
- anonymity
- anonymize
- anonymous
- backroom
- backstage
- counsel
- dissimulate
- dissimulation
- entre nous
- executive privilege
- furtive
- lid
- lip
- private
- privileged
- sanctum
- secrecy
- secret
- skeleton
- sweep
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privately adverb (NOT OFFICIAL)
by a person or company and not by the government:
a privately owned business
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Business - general words
- Age of Exploration
- B2B
- B2C
- back office
- big business
- corporate memory
- deal
- devolution
- devolve
- devolve sth to sb
- globalization
- mass market
- mass market
- nerve centre
- niche market
- offshore
- open market
- private
- private enterprise
- tender
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