confidential
Americanadjective
-
spoken, written, acted on, etc., in strict privacy or secrecy; secret.
a confidential remark.
- Synonyms:
- private, restricted
-
indicating confidence or intimacy; imparting private matters.
a confidential tone of voice.
-
having another's trust or confidence; entrusted with secrets or private affairs.
a confidential secretary.
- Synonyms:
- private, trustworthy
-
(of information, a document, etc.)
-
bearing the classification confidential, usually being above restricted and below secret.
-
limited to persons authorized to use information, documents, etc., so classified.
-
adjective
-
spoken, written, or given in confidence; secret; private
-
entrusted with another's confidence or secret affairs
a confidential secretary
-
suggestive of or denoting intimacy
a confidential approach
Synonym Usage
See familiar.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of confidential
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin confīdenti(a) confidence + -al 1
Explanation
If you get a letter stamped confidential, that means you're not supposed to tell anyone else what it says. It's private and you're not supposed to blab about it. Confidential suggests that you're being let in on a secret — as in Kitchen Confidential, the title of a book by Anthony Bourdain, a famous chef, in which he tells unappetizing stories about the restaurant industry. If you confide in someone, you are trusting him or her with confidential or secret information. Choose your confidants wisely!
Vocabulary lists containing confidential
Nothing But the Truth
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"The Censors," Vocabulary from the short story
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Guts
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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.
However, when a VC on a board has confidential information about one company that can be easily passed to the competitor, that’s when things become problematic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Pinto, 37, disclosed a tranche of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records relating to the English Premier League side.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
In another case, the audit found that a high-ranking law enforcement officer misused confidential databases to look up family members and other employees without legitimate business purposes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
She said: "Her Childline, the confidential counselling service for young people in distress, helped so many children and The Silver Line was aimed at older people suffering loneliness and isolation."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Frankly,” Ashe scraped his chair closer and lowered his voice into a confidential whisper, “the house isn’t to be only for myself. I’m getting married!”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
