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
Related Words
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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Guts
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"The Censors," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
“The Department of Justice also knows that these confidential informants helped law enforcement put violent extremists in jail.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
SoftBank reportedly filed confidential documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
The interim report by former High Court judge Virginia Bell gave 14 recommendations although five of them remain confidential due to national security concerns.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
Reitzes envisions that AI-related subscriptions “may not be as easy to understand as those known to SaaS,” since details of long-term agreements and so-called strategic collaboration agreements are confidential.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 27, 2026
While the government itself admitted the progress of the rebellion, the officers in Macondo had confidential reports of the imminence of a negotiated peace.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
