secret

[see-krit]

adjective

1. done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others.

   secret negotiations.

   Synonyms: covert, hidden, clandestine
   Antonyms: manifest, open

2. kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged.

   a secret password.

   Synonyms: confidential, private

3. faithful or cautious in keeping confidential matters confidential; close-mouthed; discreet.

   Synonyms: reticent, secretive, close

4. designed or working to escape notice, knowledge, or observation: the secret police.

   a secret drawer;

   the secret police.

5. secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn.

   a secret hiding place.

6. beyond ordinary human understanding; esoteric.

   Synonyms: mysterious, cryptic, occult

7. (of information, a document, etc.)

   1. bearing the classification secret.

   2. limited to persons authorized to use information documents, etc., so classified.

noun

1. something that is or is kept secret, hidden, or concealed.

2. a mystery.

   the secrets of nature.

3. a reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent.

4. a method, formula, plan, etc., known only to the initiated or the few: a trade secret.

   the secret of happiness;

   a trade secret.

5. a classification assigned to information, a document, etc., considered less vital to security than top-secret but more vital than confidential, and limiting its use to persons who have been cleared, as by various government agencies, as trustworthy to handle such material.

6. (initial capital letter),  a variable prayer in the Roman and other Latin liturgies, said inaudibly by the celebrant after the offertory and immediately before the preface.

secret

/ ˈsiːkrɪt /

adjective

1. kept hidden or separate from the knowledge of others

2. known only to initiates

   a secret password

3. hidden from general view or use

   a secret garden

4. able or tending to keep things private or to oneself

5. operating without the knowledge of outsiders

   a secret society

6. outside the normal range of knowledge

noun

1. something kept or to be kept hidden

2. something unrevealed; mystery

3. an underlying explanation, reason, etc, that is not apparent

   the secret of success

4. a method, plan, etc, known only to initiates

5. liturgy a variable prayer, part of the Mass, said by the celebrant after the offertory and before the preface

6. among the people who know a secret

Other Word Forms

• secretly adverb
• secretness noun
• nonsecret adjective
• quasi-secret adjective
• semisecret adjective
• supersecret noun
• ultrasecret adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of secret¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin sēcrētus “hidden,” originally past participle of sēcernere “to secern ”

Word History and Origins

Origin of secret¹

C14: via Old French from Latin sēcrētus concealed, from sēcernere to sift; see _secern

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in secret, unknown to others; in private; secretly.

   A resistance movement was already being organized in secret.

see in secret; open secret.

Example Sentences

Seeking eternal life, he learns the secret of 72 Transformations from a venerated Buddhist teacher and then becomes an irreverent show-off.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At my dad’s exit interview, his counselor advised him to keep Carville a secret so he could avoid the stigma it carried and focus on his life ahead.

Read more on Salon

When the debt couldn’t be repaid on time, it emerged that the money from the bonds was part of an epic fraud centered on cash bribes and secret fees.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It shouldn't be any secret that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to transform solely my voice for I Run," Walker explained.

Read more on BBC

He gushed about her “strong parenting and motherhood and female life element,” portraying her as reaching “younger religious women” with content about “sunscreen and parenting styles and the secret to fixing your period.”

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• classified 
• covert 
• furtive 
• hush-hush 
• mysterious 
• obscure 
• private 
• secluded 
• undercover 
• underground 
• undisclosed 
• unknown 
• unpublished