secret
Americanadjective
-
done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others.
secret negotiations.
- Synonyms:
- covert, hidden, clandestine
-
kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged.
a secret password.
- Synonyms:
- confidential, private
-
faithful or cautious in keeping confidential matters confidential; close-mouthed; discreet.
-
designed or working to escape notice, knowledge, or observation: the secret police.
a secret drawer;
the secret police.
-
secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn.
a secret hiding place.
-
beyond ordinary human understanding; esoteric.
- Synonyms:
- mysterious, cryptic, occult
-
(of information, a document, etc.)
-
bearing the classification secret.
-
limited to persons authorized to use information documents, etc., so classified.
-
noun
-
something that is or is kept secret, hidden, or concealed.
-
a mystery.
the secrets of nature.
-
a reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent.
-
a method, formula, plan, etc., known only to the initiated or the few: a trade secret.
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.
-
(initial capital letter) a variable prayer in the Roman and other Latin liturgies, said inaudibly by the celebrant after the offertory and immediately before the preface.
idioms
adjective
-
kept hidden or separate from the knowledge of others
-
known only to initiates
a secret password
-
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
noun
-
something kept or to be kept hidden
-
something unrevealed; mystery
-
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
-
among the people who know a secret
Other Word Forms
- nonsecret adjective
- quasi-secret adjective
- secretly adverb
- secretness noun
- semisecret adjective
- supersecret noun
- ultrasecret adjective
Etymology
Origin of secret
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin sēcrētus “hidden,” originally past participle of sēcernere “to secern ”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Vatican also played a major role in secret negotiations that led the Obama administration to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba in 2015.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
A private key is a very large, random, secret number that allows you to manage and access your funds.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
Now the rest of the world is in on the secret.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Google’s researchers said a quantum computer may be on the horizon that’s powerful enough to crack a bitcoin wallet’s secret key in as few as nine minutes, potentially giving attackers access to investors’ funds.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
“You think that Philip Arnold DuBois and Shea are the same person? This man has a secret family? He’s a bigamist?”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
