secretive

Secretive is commonly used to describe people or organizations that are prone to secrecy—they avoid revealing information about themselves and try to keep their actions private. The word secretive can also be used to describe such actions.

People who are secretive often don’t let other people get to know them very well, often by keeping secrets about their life. They may do this because they have something to hide or because they don’t trust other people.

Organizations described as secretive are often those that hide details about their operations. A secretive company may be one that closely guards information about its product development or financial situation.

Animals described as secretive are those that tend to stay hidden.

Describing things or people as secretive often implies that you are suspicious of them because it seems like they are hiding something.

An unrelated and less common meaning of secretive is based not on secret but on the verb secrete. This sense of secretive means involving the process of secretion—the production and release of substances from specialized cells within an organism, such as glands. For example, the pancreas can be described as secretive in this way because it secretes digestive fluid and insulin. Another word for this is secretory.

Example: I always ask Sylvie about her weekend plans, but she’s so secretive that she only smiles furtively and walks away.

The first records of the word secretive come from the 1400s. The adjective-forming suffix -ive indicates a tendency or characteristic—in this case, the tendency to keep secrets.

Some people are secretive about everything—they like their life to be private and they don’t like others knowing much or anything about them. Some artists are secretive about their process. Some companies are known for being secretive about what they’re working on so it doesn’t get leaked to competitors or the public. Some field guides describe certain birds as secretive because they’re known for their tendency to stay hidden, such as by always staying in thick reeds.

What are some other forms related to secretive?

• secret (adjective, noun)

What are some synonyms for secretive?

• reticent
• furtive
• closemouthed
• tight-lipped
• secretory (when secretive means “related to secretion”)

What are some words that share a root or word element with secretive? 

• secrecy (noun)
• secrete

What are some words that often get used in discussing secretive?

• private
• reserved
• reluctant
• hidden
• company
• information

Describing someone of something as secretive often implies suspicion of that person or thing.

#confessionnight only few people actually know what's happening in my life. i'm trying to be less secretive now

— Jen Pickett (@superninjen) January 22, 2013

Tucked at the bottom of the long indictment against Bannon, prosecutors say they want to seize the assets of his nonprofit Citizens of the American Republic, shedding more light on the secretive political group’s finances.https://t.co/xpEr398N7N

— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) August 26, 2020

After 2 years of surveying for the secretive birds based on calls alone, our biologists decided to set trail cameras. We now have documented proof of breeding – tiny black rail chicks with an adult walking through a Colorado marsh! pic.twitter.com/R4BDvNcEv0

— Colorado Parks and Wildlife (@COParksWildlife) September 16, 2020

Which of the following terms would not be used to describe someone considered secretive?

A. taciturn
B. forthright
C. tight-lipped
D. close-mouthed