incognito
Americanadjective
adverb
noun
-
a person who is incognito.
-
the state of being incognito.
-
the disguise or character assumed by an incognito.
adverb
noun
-
a person who is incognito
-
the assumed name or disguise of such a person
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of incognito
First recorded in 1630–40; from Italian, from Latin incognitus “unknown,” from in- in- 3 + cognitus “known” (past participle of cognōscere “to get to know”; see cognition)
Explanation
When you want to do something and not be recognized, go incognito — hiding your true identity. It is funny that the words, recognize and incognito, are both related to the Latin verb, cognoscere, "to get to know" because when you do something incognito, you do not want to be recognized. Celebrities often try to go out or travel incognito so that they may have some privacy, whereas an average person might want to remain incognito in order to observe something they might not otherwise be able to see (like a celebrity).
Vocabulary lists containing incognito
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In the Know: Cogn, Conn
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The Catcher in the Rye
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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:
Sugar came to Earth as part of a group of “thousands,” mixing among humans incognito just to observe them, for benign alien reasons, like Starship Enterprise on its five-year mission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Meta has introduced a new incognito chat option for its AI model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
WhatsApp has introduced private chats with its AI chatbot which not even the tech company will be able to read in a new "incognito" mode.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
JetBlue is now walking back advice given to a customer via social media to search for fares in incognito mode.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
They planned to stay incognito until they knew for certain that the new baker was their old friend, the spooky Madame.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Around this time, chef Melfi spotted us — we were no longer incognitos.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 1, 2015
But Jove himself, as everybody knows, was much addicted to incognitos, and so was his terrene representative, the Emperor of Austria.
From Joseph II. and His Court by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
Sooner or later the fellow would gather that he had been befooled, but, provided that we preserved our incognitos, that did not matter.
From Berry And Co. by Yates, Dornford
Upon the third day, however, there was noticed a mysterious figure, like the inscrutable incognitos sometimes encountered, crossing the tower-shadowed Plaza of Assignations at Lima.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Melville, Herman
But all is now lost; I know not who he was; and this estimable author must needs share the oblivious fate of all literary incognitos.
From Redburn. His First Voyage by Melville, Herman
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.
