secret admirer

American  

[see-krit ad-mahyuhr-er] / ˈsi krɪt ædˈmaɪər ər /

noun

1. a person who is romantically attracted to someone else but shows it only in a way that does not reveal their own identity, as by sending anonymous gifts or messages.

   I found an unsigned valentine on my desk from a secret admirer.

2. a person who esteems or has a high opinion of someone or something but hides this fact from others.

   Only after his death, when his diaries were discovered, did we learn that he was a secret admirer of opera.

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Etymology

Origin of secret admirer

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

The German young man arrested early in the investigation—the Louvre visitor who’d been a little too interested in the Mona Lisa—was a classic Secret Admirer type.

From Literature

The idea of the infatuated Secret Admirer loomed large throughout the investigation.

From Literature

The scale of the theft was a job for a Consummate Professional, not a Secret Admirer or a Lone Madman.

From Literature

The thief wasn’t a Secret Admirer.

From Literature

The first character: the Secret Admirer.

From Literature