private

American  

[prahy-vit] / ˈpraɪ vɪt /

adjective

1. belonging to some particular person.

   private property.

2. pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal.

   for your private satisfaction.

   Synonyms:

   peculiar, particular, singular

   Antonyms:

   public, general

3. confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential.

   a private meeting.

4. personal and not publicly expressed.

   one's private feelings.

5. not holding public office or employment.

   private citizens.

6. not of an official or public character; unrelated to one's official job or position.

   a former senator who has returned to private life;

   a college president speaking in his private capacity as a legal expert.

7. removed from or out of public view or knowledge; secret.

   private papers.

8. not open or accessible to the general public.

   a private beach.

9. undertaken individually or personally.

   private research.

10. without the presence of others; alone.

    Let's go into another room where we can be private.

    Synonyms:

    retired

11. solitary; secluded.

    He wants to meet us in a more private place.

12. preferring privacy; retiring.

    a very private person.

13. intimate; most personal.

    private behavior.

14. of, having, or receiving special hospital facilities, privileges, and services, especially a room of one's own and liberal visiting hours.

    a private room;

    a private patient.

15. of lowest military rank.

16. of, relating to, or coming from nongovernmental sources.

    private funding.

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noun

privates plural

1. a soldier of one of the three lowest enlisted ranks.

2. privates. private parts.

idioms

1. in private, not publicly; secretly.

   The hearing will be conducted in private.

private British  

/ ˈpraɪvɪt /

adjective

1. not widely or publicly known

   they had private reasons for the decision

2. confidential; secret

   a private conversation

3. not for general or public use

   a private bathroom

4. (prenominal) individual; special

   my own private recipe

5. (prenominal) having no public office, rank, etc

   a private man

6. (prenominal) denoting a soldier of the lowest military rank

   a private soldier

7. of, relating to, or provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body

   the private sector

   private housing

8. (of a place) retired; sequestered; not overlooked

9. (of a person) reserved; uncommunicative

10. in secret; confidentially

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noun

1. a soldier of the lowest rank, sometimes separated into qualification grades, in many armies and marine corps

   private first class

private More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing private

• free (private) enterprise
• in private

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• privateness
  noun
• unprivateness
  noun
• quasi-private
  adjective
• unprivate
  adjective
• privately
  adverb
• quasi-privately
  adverb
• unprivately
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• privates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of private

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin prīvātus “private,” literally, “taken away (from public affairs),” special use of past participle of prīvāre “to rob”; see deprive, -ate ¹

Explanation

Something private is something you don't want to share; it's for your eyes only. Your diary entries and your bank account balance might both be kept private. As a noun, the lowest enlisted rank is called private. You may enlist as a private but have plans to retire from the Army as a four-star general! Sometimes the adjective private is used as the opposite of public. If you own your own island, it's private property. Alcatraz Island, however, is public property and the site of a museum preserving its past life as a famous prison — former home to Al Capone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

private privates

"They have approached this litigation in good faith, under the burden of decades of intense, intrusive media scrutiny into their private lives."

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

The best way to measure the actual performance of the economy is by focusing on what’s known as final sales to private domestic buyers — that is, American businesses and the American people.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

“They must be suspecting me of defending Articles 29 and 23 of the Russian Constitution—which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to private correspondence,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to require shopping centers, warehouses, private hospitals and office complexes whose properties drain into the Dominguez and Los Cerritos channels to get stormwater permits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Or, if they were Pelicarnassus, they rode in limousines with a private driver employed by their mother.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness

Taking a step back and looking at initial public offerings and public equity markets versus privates, I think it’s fair to say that somewhere along the line, we’ve lost our way.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

What, Henry asks, “have kings, that privates have not too, save ceremony, save general ceremony?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

Zelensky said those Ukrainians released included 82 privates and sergeants and 21 officers from the armed forces, national guard, border guards, and police.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2024

They’re going to put aspartame in this possibly-causing-cancer category, along with, oh, putting talcum powder on your privates, or working in a dry cleaner.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2023

After two privates had carried the Lady down, and she was propped up on her pillows so she could look out the window, Madam called me upstairs.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Related Words

• confidential
• exclusive
• independent
• individual
• secret
• separate
• special