disclose
Americanverb (used with object)
-
discloses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disclosed,
past participle, past
-
disclosing
present participle
noun
verb
-
to make (information) known
-
to allow to be seen; lay bare
Synonym Usage
See reveal.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disclosesimple
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disclosessimple
-
have disclosedperfect
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has disclosedperfect
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am disclosingprogressive
-
are disclosingprogressive
-
is disclosingprogressive
-
have been disclosingperfect progressive
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has been disclosingperfect progressive
Past
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disclosedsimple
-
had disclosedperfect
-
was disclosingprogressive
-
were disclosingprogressive
-
had been disclosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disclose
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English disclosen, desclosen, from Old French desclos-, stem of desclore, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + clore “to close,” from Latin claudere; see close
Explanation
Disclose means to reveal or expose information that has previously been kept a secret — like a politician might be forced to disclose his finances or former scandals while running for office. When a politician, corporate executive, or celebrity announces that he or she has something to disclose, the public listens. They know that the information they're about to hear was kept secret for a reason. Something incriminating or juicy is about to be revealed, like a secret affair or plummeting company profits.
Vocabulary lists containing disclose
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
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A Christmas Carol
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The Launch of Sputnik 1
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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.
See Examples For:
The FBI didn’t disclose the individual locations that received the mailings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
In the suit, they accused the couple of lying about owning the surrogacy firm and failing to disclose that they already had more than a dozen children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Next year, however, players will be asked to disclose which tours they intend to play on, and their answer will be taken into account when deciding on their membership.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The department did not disclose the scope of the investigation or what agents were seeking.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
The mother hesitated, then glanced over at her husband as if unsure how much they should disclose to this stranger.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
In a letter to university leadership, hundreds of graduates have pledged to halt unrestricted donations until Cornell discloses how it handled evidence in its internal investigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The City Council’s committee on the Olympics heard about the insurance request Wednesday and also got an update on the dispute with LA28 over what the group discloses in its annual reports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv discloses the total number of foreign soldiers in their ranks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The audit committee’s report discloses for the first time that Kalshi has made more than 20 referrals to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department during the first quarter of 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
The record, however, discloses Alvarez’s testimony to be an ill-disguised act of score settling.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The final sale price has not been disclosed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
On top of that, CoreWeave CFO Nitin Agrawal disclosed in a Wednesday filing his recent sale of about $1.8 million worth of the company’s shares at prices near $80.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
These numbers don’t even account for third-quarter sums that have yet to be disclosed.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
Delaware Life and Clear Spring disclosed in June that they had dramatically understated their share of so-called affiliated assets in their first-quarter filings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Alongside red, yellow, blue, green, Dick and Jane, was disclosed to us the knowledge of our immortal souls.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Without disclosing who he will vote for, the 47-year-old chainsaw operator praised the harmony between Catholics and evangelicals.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
One employee had been working and living in Idaho since late 2020 without disclosing that information to the agency, according to IP address records examined by the state auditor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
It also revoked Ávila’s visa, without disclosing the reason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Cornell says it is legally prevented from publicly disclosing specific disciplinary outcomes about disciplinary students, adding that "we recognise that this legal limitation can be frustrating".
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
“Since there is no reason for doing it I can see no point in running the risk of getting into trouble by disclosing it.”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
