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

“When it gets to the point that it’s an open secret for years, then everyone is complicit in an open secret,” Nevils said.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026

On Tuesday, the defense insisted on the Brazao brothers' innocence, while noting that links between local power and criminals were an open secret.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

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 • Nov. 23, 2025

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 • Nov. 19, 2025

The open secret of the Maafa had been bothering me throughout my time here, and it had taken something High John said to make me understand.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia