secret

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secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn: a secret hiding place.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.)

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.

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

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