hugger mugger
[noun]
Synonyms: secrecy, hugger-muggery, hush, hush-hush, secretiveness, secretness, silence, clutter, hash, jumble, jungle, litter, mash, muddle, rummage, scramble, tumble
[adverb]
Synonyms: secretly, by stealth, clandestinely, covertly, furtively, in camera, privately, stealthily, sub rosa, surreptitiously
[adjective]
Synonyms: secret, clandestine, covert, furtive, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, sub-rosa, undercover, underneath, under-the-table

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

hugger-mugger noun, adverb, & adjective. ['hʌgǝmʌgǝ] Also (earlier & now dial.) hucker-mucker ['hʌkǝmʌkǝ]. E16.
[Redupl., with 1st elem. prob. rel. to HUDDLE verb and 2nd elem. to MUCKER verb¹: cf. earlier HUDDER-MUDDER.]
A. noun.
1. Concealment, secrecy. Chiefly in in hugger-mugger, secretly, clandestinely. arch. E16.
■ S. Butler In Hugger-mugger hid.

2. Disorder, confusion; a muddle. L17.
Times Literary Supplement The..Carthusians, revolting against the gregarious hugger-mugger of the older orders, were..serious writers.
b. adverb.
1. Secretly, clandestinely. Now chiefly dial. E16.

2. In disorder or confusion, in a muddle. L19.
■ V. Glendinning Rich and poor lived here hugger-mugger, literally on top of one another.
C. adjective.
1. Secret, clandestine. L17.
■ A. Sillitoe There was no longer the hugger-mugger anecdote, or any juicy elbow-gripping gossip.

2. Disorderly, confused; makeshift. M19.
■ H. Nicolson It entailed..living a rather hugger-mugger existence in Berlin.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

hugger-mugger verb. ['hʌgǝmʌgǝ] Now rare. E19.
[from HUGGER-MUGGER noun, adverb, & adjective.]
1. verb trans. Keep secret or concealed. E19.

2. verb intrans. Proceed in a clandestine manner; behave in a confused or muddled way. E19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲