open secret
noun
something supposedly secret but actually known quite generally.
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Origin of open secret
First recorded in 1875–80
Words nearby open secret
open registry, open sandwich, open sea, open season, open season on, open secret, open sentence, open sesame, open set, open-shelf, open shop
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for open secret
open secret
noun
something that is supposed to be secret but is widely known
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
Idioms and Phrases with open secret
open secret
Something that is supposedly clandestine but is in fact widely known, as in It's an open secret that both their children are adopted. This expression originated as the title of a Spanish play by Calderón, El Secreto a Voces (“The Noisy Secret”), which was translated by Carlo Gozzi into Italian as Il pubblico secreto (1769). In English the term came into general use during the 1800s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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