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Synonyms

hush-hush

American  
[huhsh-huhsh] / ˈhʌʃˌhʌʃ /

adjective

  1. highly secret or confidential.

    a hush-hush political investigation.
hush-hush British  

adjective

  1. informal (esp of official work, documents, etc) secret; confidential

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hush-hush

First recorded in 1915–20; reduplication based on hush

Vocabulary lists containing hush-hush

Secret

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Each episode begins with a child's voice: "Hush, hush, says the moon. It's time to go to sleep."

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2019

Samples: Don't cry my doll Don't cry I hold you and rock you to sleep Hush hush I'm pretending now I'm not your mother who died.

From Time Magazine Archive

“What what. Hush hush, Tanee. I wan’t gone, just stepped away. Now I’m here.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

"Hush, hush, man alive, that's him, that's him."

From The Deemster by Caine, Hall, Sir

"Hush, hush, little one," he soothed, as he stroked her silken hair.

From If Any Man Sin by Cody, H. A. (Hiram Alfred)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.