hidden
Americanadjective
verb
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hidden
First recorded in 1540–50, for the adjective
Explanation
Hidden things can't be seen — they're concealed in some way. A hidden video camera inside a teddy bear might secretly be keeping an eye on a new babysitter. People with hidden feelings don't let their sadness, anger, and joy show; and hidden clues in a treasure hunt can't be easily found. Hidden things can be obscured deliberately (like hidden eggs at an Easter egg hunt), or simply out of view or undetected by you. Hidden is the past participle of hide, from the Old English hydan, which means "to hide or conceal," but also "to bury a corpse."
Vocabulary lists containing hidden
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, throughout scientific history, tiny inconsistencies have sometimes pointed to major discoveries and revealed hidden gaps in existing theories.
From Science Daily • May 18, 2026
This is a dual-purpose probe: It can reveal hidden fixed costs that could come, for example, with taking care of an elderly parent, but it can also highlight a person’s discretionary spending.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
There is no sign outside, but follow the noise inside to find the Host arrive on stage from a door hidden behind a hypnotic dayglow projector visual.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
They survived thanks to a hidden exit they had dug just in case.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Huge black velvety spiders, as big as Strong Jonn's hand, crawling over vast webs of white silk that draped the trees so thickly that the bark and leaves were hidden.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
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.
