secret
done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others: secret negotiations.
kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged: a secret password.
faithful or cautious in keeping confidential matters confidential; close-mouthed; discreet.
designed or working to escape notice, knowledge, or observation: a secret drawer;the secret police.
secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn: a secret hiding place.
beyond ordinary human understanding; esoteric.
(of information, a document, etc.)
bearing the classification secret.
limited to persons authorized to use information documents, etc., so classified.
something that is or is kept secret, hidden, or concealed.
a mystery: the secrets of nature.
a reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent.
a method, formula, plan, etc., known only to the initiated or the few: the secret of happiness;a trade secret.
a classification assigned to information, a document, etc., considered less vital to security than top-secret but more vital than confidential, and limiting its use to persons who have been cleared, as by various government agencies, as trustworthy to handle such material.: Compare classification (def. 5).
(initial capital letter)Liturgy. a variable prayer in the Roman and other Latin liturgies, said inaudibly by the celebrant after the offertory and immediately before the preface.
Idioms about secret
in secret, unknown to others; in private; secretly: A resistance movement was already being organized in secret.
Origin of secret
1Other words for secret
1 | clandestine, hidden, concealed, covert |
2 | private, confidential |
3 | close, secretive; reticent |
6 | occult, cryptic, mysterious |
Opposites for secret
Other words from secret
- se·cret·ly, adverb
- se·cret·ness, noun
- non·se·cret, adjective, noun
- qua·si-se·cret, adjective
- sem·i·se·cret, adjective
- su·per·se·cret, noun
- ul·tra·se·cret, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for secret
/ (ˈsiːkrɪt) /
kept hidden or separate from the knowledge of others: Related adjective: cryptic
known only to initiates: a secret password
hidden from general view or use: a secret garden
able or tending to keep things private or to oneself
operating without the knowledge of outsiders: a secret society
outside the normal range of knowledge
something kept or to be kept hidden
something unrevealed; mystery
an underlying explanation, reason, etc, that is not apparent: the secret of success
a method, plan, etc, known only to initiates
liturgy a variable prayer, part of the Mass, said by the celebrant after the offertory and before the preface
in the secret among the people who know a secret
Origin of secret
1Derived forms of secret
- secretly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with secret
see in secret; open secret.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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