confidentiality
Americannoun
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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.
In the United States, she says, researchers and funding agencies should make greater use of federal Certificates of Confidentiality.
From Science Magazine • May 15, 2023
“Congressman Guest is bound by the Committee’s Confidentiality Rule and has no comment on matters that are or could come before the Committee,” Rob Pillow said in an email.
From Washington Post • Dec. 27, 2022
Confidentiality agreements prevent the firm from divulging details of the case to third parties, but the AP spoke to three Iraqi legal sources close to the case.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 21, 2022
"Confidentiality agreements are very common in international commercial loans", says Professor Lee Jones at Queen Mary University of London.
From BBC • Jan. 5, 2022
Confidentiality requires a nurse, searcher or not, to censor communications when personal knowledge of individuals make them identifiable.
From Humanistic Nursing by Paterson, Josephine G.
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.
