secrecy
Americannoun
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secrecies
plural
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the state or condition of being secret, hidden, or concealed.
a meeting held in secrecy.
- Synonyms:
- covertness, stealth, privacy, confidentiality
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the state of being apart from other people; privacy; seclusion.
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ability to keep a secret.
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the habit or characteristic of being secretive; reticence.
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Archaic. something that is secret or mysterious.
the secrecies of nature.
noun
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the state or quality of being secret
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the state of keeping something secret
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the ability or tendency to keep things secret
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of secrecy
1375–1425; obsolete secre (< Middle French secré secret ) + -cy; replacing late Middle English secretee, equivalent to secre + -tee -ty 2
Explanation
Secrecy is a word for a state or condition where things are concealed or hidden. CIA agents and conspirators know a lot about secrecy. Since a secret is something some people don't know, secrecy is all about keeping things private or concealed. Being a spy involves a lot of secrecy. When information is important or sensitive, people try to create secrecy. Also, you can say secrecy is a quality people have, like courage. Someone who doesn't gossip has a good sense of secrecy. When all lips are sealed, there's secrecy.
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.
See Examples For:
Despite their elaborate efforts at secrecy and unaccountability, Flock works through government contracts.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Joe Biden's 2023 visit to Ukraine was also shrouded in strict secrecy during a long journey by plane and train, though he was accompanied by a reporter and photographer.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
These cryptic posts are meant to skirt secrecy rules, since officials’ names and résumés generally aren’t considered sensitive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Jermy has previously called on the Home Office to end "secrecy and confusion" around plans to house more asylum seekers in former military barracks – including at RAF Barnham near Thetford.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
On the FBI’s public website, the account of the Doll Woman case still omits any mention of her, even though the need for secrecy is long past.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Once the eye gets used to the quirks and secrecies of his inimitable shorthand, it discovers how deeply regional an artist he was.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is, of course, the further interesting fact that these stories take place out in the open and have the charm that comes from adventures and wanderings through the secrecies of ancient Sherwood Forest.
From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Erle Elsworth Clippinger
And, oh, the Unspeakable, the He, The manifest in secrecies Yet of mine own heart partaker With the overcoming look Of One who hath been once forsook And blesseth the forsaker!
From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Volume II by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
She had a natural taste for secrecies, and practised them now, as he bade her do, without any perception of the humiliation which they involved.
From The Truants by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
She saw his face cloud, she was well aware of his dislike of secrecies, but she was too much afraid that, somehow, at the last moment an insuperable obstacle would bar the way.
From The Truants by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
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.
