top-secret

[ top-see-krit ]

/ ˈtɒpˈsi krɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR top-secret ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective (of information, a document, etc.)

bearing the classification top-secret, the highest level of classified information.

limited to persons authorized to use anything so classified.Compare classification(def 5).

Nearby words

top-hole, top-level, top-notch, top-of-the-line, top-off, top-secret, top-shell, top-sider, top-up card, topagnosia, topagnosis

Origin of top-secret

First recorded in 1940–45; top¹ + secret

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for top-secret

A fire that he insists is only picking up pace, according to top-secret intelligence briefings.
ISIS Fight Has a Spy Shortage, Intel Chair Says|Kimberly Dozier|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They described the top-secret force in detail on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Exclusive: CIA Falls Back in Afghanistan|Kimberly Dozier|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Those looking to solve the mystery of the top-secret event stood in line beginning at 7am, but weren't let inside until 2pm.
A.P.C. Releases Kanye West Collection; Max Azria Faces Insurmountable Debt|The Fashion Beast Team|July 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
About half a million other private contractors have top-secret clearance.
Surveillance Program Got You Yawning? Here’s Why You Should Worry|Josh Dzieza|June 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The top-secret ‘Q Group’ has been chasing Edward Snowden since he disappeared in May.
Inside the ‘Q Group,’ the Directorate Hunting Down Edward Snowden|Eli Lake|June 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Now it was the Swifts' top-secret rocket base, tightly guarded by drone planes and radar.
Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X|Victor Appleton
Temple was a thermo-nuclear engineer with top-secret government clearance.
Voyage To Eternity|Milton Lesser
The higher you went in these top-secret projects, the more silence and stubbornness you found.
Ten From Infinity|Paul W. Fairman
Or had he, the Vice-President, been in a fog when vital, top-secret information had been made public?
Ten From Infinity|Paul W. Fairman
Senator Crane, a doggedly determined man, had listened to the replay of Brent Taber's top-secret conference again and again.
Ten From Infinity|Paul W. Fairman

British Dictionary definitions for top-secret

top-secret

adjective

containing information whose disclosure would cause exceedingly grave damage to the nation and therefore classified as needing the highest level of secrecy and security

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012