sub-rosa

Hijinks ensue, and schemes within schemes — including a rhino-saving project that somehow involves Persephone babysitting a rhino overnight; a sub-rosa jewel-trading venture; and some silly CIA business.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 13, 2021

“There is a lot of sub-rosa sanctions enforcement going on with U.S. officials at State and Treasury and others,” Mr. Klingner said.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 29, 2020

"There was this semi-secret, sub-rosa network of gay clubs we would go to," Prof Lockyer explained.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2017

Bachelder’s reliance on sub-rosa psychological churnings partly reflects his strengths as a novelist: he excels as an analyst of the anxieties that undergird social mores rather than as a dramatist of extravagant scenes.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 23, 2016

My father would not have believed in the possibility of sub-rosa vocations.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

That exists sub rosa everywhere, with VIPs—meaning anyone awash in money or followers—afforded bowing and scraping not extended to the average customer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

But she also has, beneath the top layers of this Christmas story she was asked to make by Oscar-winning auteur Alfonso Cuarón, her own sub rosa meanings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2023

But Poor can also claim a quirky bit of sub rosa fame, and when he revealed it over dinner that night, I nearly fell out of my chair.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2022

“There is a lot of sub rosa sanctions enforcement going on with U.S. officials at State and Treasury and others,” Mr. Klingner said.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 1, 2020

Then, as Clara was seen approaching, she added playfully, "All this is sub rosa, you understand."

From Silver Pitchers: and Independence A Centennial Love Story by Louisa May Alcott