Chinese word

私下

Pronunciation

Pinyinsī xià

Meaning

  • adverbsecretly

Example

她私下联系了那个朋友。tā sī xià lián xì le nà ge péng yǒu

She secretly contacted that friend.

Illustration for 私下 (secretly)

More examples

经理私下和客户谈了合同条款。jīng lǐ sī xià hé kè hù tán le hé tóng tiáo kuǎn

The manager privately discussed the contract terms with the customer.

Core concept

An action takes place outside the public setting, in a private or unofficial channel.

Common phrases

  • 私下联系sī xià lián xì

    secretly contact

  • 私下商量sī xià shāng liáng

    discuss privately

  • 私下协商sī xià xié shāng

    negotiate privately

  • 私下安排sī xià ān pái

    secretly arrange

Similar words

偷偷tōu tōu: Secretly, with care to avoid being seen or found out.
悄悄qiāo qiāo: Quietly and discreetly, so that the action does not attract notice.

Definition in Chinese

以非公开、非正式的方式进行的言行，强调在公众视线之外悄悄进行的性质。yǐ fēi gōng kāi fēi zhèng shì de fāng shì jìn xíng de yán xíng qiáng diào zài gōng zhòng shì xiàn zhī wài qiāo qiāo jìn xíng de xìng zhì

Word origin

私 (sī, "private") + 下 (xià, "below") forms the image of an action placed beneath the public surface, giving the word its sense of being done privately.

Usage tips

  • English secretly often sounds suspicious, but this word can be neutral when describing a private conversation, contact, or opinion away from a public setting.

Other meanings

  • privatelyadverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 私下里sī xià lǐprivatelyadverb

Word lists with this word