open secret

American  

noun

1. something supposedly secret but actually known quite generally.

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open secret British  

noun

1. something that is supposed to be secret but is widely known

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open secret Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of open secret

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The BBC has spoken to a former lecturer who describes essay cheating as an "open secret" and to a businessman who claims to have made millions from selling "model answer" essays to university students.

From BBC

Still, it was an open secret that the car wash industry, which paid low wages for back-breaking labor, largely attracted people without legal status.

From Los Angeles Times

Since the collapse of the Assad regime on Dec. 8 last year, ordinary Syrians are reporting sites that had long been an open secret.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is an open secret he has helped, and continues to help, many people financially, and he often says that with so many people going through bad times his profession is a privilege.

From BBC

When I mentioned his name to people in the industry, I was told it was "the biggest open secret in TV".

From BBC