confidentiality
Americannoun
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confidentialities
plural
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the quality or fact of being confidential, private, or restricted to certain parties, usually by agreement or formal requirement.
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something confidential or private; confidence.
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a rule or expectation within a particular field of activity that the restriction of private information is to be respected.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Explanation
Confidentiality is what you observe when you keep things secret. If you happen to be a mafia boss with lots of dark secrets, you'll want to be sure you can count on complete confidentiality from your wife and family. Confidentiality is important not just to people involved in illegal activities. You expect your close friends and family to keep your secrets — you count on their confidentiality. Confidentiality might also apply to your job — if your company is working on a new computer game, confidentiality is essential to prevent leaks to your competitors. The word confidentiality includes the Latin root fides, which means "faith," or "trust."
Vocabulary lists containing confidentiality
Journalism
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United States v. Nixon (1974)
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Words with 15 or More Letters, List 3
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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:
Because of confidentiality provisions and the private nature of these disputes, there is plenty we don’t know about how common fights like this one are—or how they’re resolved.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
However, if confidentiality of certain information in a private-credit rating is genuinely essential, insurers could seek a risk assessment from the regulator’s own staff.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
The rollout has been largely welcomed, but some health bodies urged the NHS to prioritise patient safety, confidentiality and inclusion as it grows more reliant on AI.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The agreement also mandates a legally enforceable whistleblower protection policy, a comprehensive Survivor Bill of Rights, anonymous online reporting, and a prohibition on confidentiality agreements that silence survivors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The priest was sufficiently alarmed that he had broken the tenet of parishioner confidentiality.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
The lawyers said her role was to "ensure the club's established and robust safeguarding structures, procedures and necessary confidentialities were followed and respected throughout".
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
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.
