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Definition
done in a secret or hidden wayMuch more rarely, covert is used as a noun to describe a hidden or sheltered place.
- covert intelligence gathering
- covert funding for the rebels
- [looks at him with covert scorn.]Henrik Ibsen -- Hedda Gabler
- ...last night, when Hanna, Sean, Mona, and a bunch of other kids were hanging out in Jim Freed's cedar hot tub, covertly drinking Coronas, Sean had taken All-American Boy Scout up a notch.Sara Shepard -- Pretty Little Liars
- He stopped before a covert.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- As we sat at the table, Otto Fuchs and I kept stealing covert glances at each other.Cather, Willa -- My Antonia
- How covert matters may be best disclosed,Shakespeare, William -- Julius Caesar
- A covert glance at her face, as he walked beside her, showed him that she had not expected his ready assent to that proposition.Dickens, Charles -- Our Mutual Friend
- Anne understood this covert reproach and was more moved than irritated by it.Dumas, Alexandre -- Twenty Years After
- And stole into the covert of the wood.Shakespeare, William -- Romeo and Juliet
- It seemed a rustling covert leading to enchanted glades.Wharton, Edith -- Ethan Frome
- Jace was studying the menu, which gave Clary the opportunity to covertly study him.Cassandra Clare -- City of Ashes
- 40:21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.The Bible -- Job
- He was a veritable existential identity crisis, a male stripper with more aliases than a covert CIA agent.John Green -- Looking for Alaska
- Oh, she could stand the cuts, the slights, the covert smiles, anything the town might say, if she had to stand them—but not Melanie!Margaret Mitchell -- Gone with the Wind
- He leaned from his covert and peered over the rim.Zane Grey -- The Rainbow Trail
- There they lay for a while, too tired yet to eat; and peering out through the holes in the covert they watched for the slow growth of day.J.R.R. Tolkien -- The Two Towers
- The waiting at the covert side-then they sound the tally-ho, do they not?Agatha Christie -- The ABC Murders
- Survival is a continuous negotiation, as you have to barter covertly for every service the government pretends to provide, but actually doesn't.Barbara Kingsolver -- The Poisonwood Bible
- Then his eye caught the tall, ominous, familiar figure crossing the square, watching him covertly over its shoulder.Alfred Bester -- The Demolished Man
covert = hidden
covertly = secretly
covert = a hidden or sheltered place; or done in a secret or hidden way