veiled

[veyld]

See more synonyms for veiled on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having a veil: a veiled hat.
covered or concealed by, or as if by, a veil: a veiled woman.
not openly or directly expressed; masked; disguised; hidden; obscure: a veiled threat.

lacking clarity or distinctness: veiled sounds; a veiled image.

Origin of veiled

First recorded in 1585–95; veil + -ed³

Related formsveil·ed·ly

[vey-lid-lee] /ˌveɪ lɪd li/, adverbhalf-veiled, adjectivewell-veiled, adjective

veil

[veyl]

noun

a piece of opaque or transparent material worn over the face for concealment, for protection from the elements, or to enhance the appearance.
a piece of material worn so as to fall over the head and shoulders on each side of the face, forming a part of the headdress of a nun.
the life of a nun, especially a cloistered life.
something that covers, separates, screens, or conceals: a veil of smoke; the veil of death.
a mask, disguise, or pretense: to find fault under a veil of humor.
Botany, Anatomy, Zoology. a velum.
Mycology. a membrane that covers the immature mushroom of many fungi and breaks apart as the mushroom expands, leaving distinctive remnants on the cap, stalk, or stalk base.
Scot. and North England. a caul.

verb (used with object)

to cover or conceal with or as with a veil: She veiled her face in black. A heavy fog veiled the shoreline.
to hide the real nature of; mask; disguise: to veil one's intentions.

verb (used without object)

to don or wear a veil: In certain Islamic countries women must veil.

Idioms

take the veil, to become a nun.

Origin of veil

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English veile < Anglo-French < Latin vēla, neuter plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of vēlum covering; (v.) Middle English veilen < Anglo-French veiler, derivative of veile

Related formsveil·less, adjectiveveil·like, adjective

Can be confusedvale veil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for veiled

Contemporary Examples

The house version of chicken fried steak is, in fact, pork-fried steak, veiled in panko breadcrumbs under a mantle of gravy.
Spaghetti for Breakfast?! Not So Crazy at This Idaho Farm Café
Jane & Michael Stern
August 4, 2014
Each accused their opponent in veiled language of voting fraud.
A Time Bomb in Afghanistan’s Ballot Box
Kimberly Dozier
May 17, 2014
Another piece complicating all of this is that the Harvard Ad Board is veiled in mystery.
Harvard’s Biggest Problem With Sexual Assault Is Harvard Itself
Emily Shire
April 4, 2014
“We have rarely seen such images of veiled Muslim women going viral,” Naili told The Daily Beast.
Meet the Mipsterz
Erin Cunningham
January 15, 2014
The family and Ms. Yoshimatsu interpreted this a veiled threat.
Japan’s Miss International Takes on Mob-Backed Entertainment Complex
Jake Adelstein
December 18, 2013

Historical Examples

Mr Verloc intimated in a throaty, veiled murmur that he was no longer young.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad
In every litter sat a veiled woman, and the princess was in their midst.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
The bride, veiled in a red veil, was led in by two maid-servants.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
Veiled as it was by the gathering gloom, she yet could not keep it towards me.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
In one, and only one, of all these figures his dignity is veiled in sadness.
The Formation of Christendom, Volume VI
Thomas W. (Thomas William) Allies

British Dictionary definitions for veiled

veiled

adjective

disguiseda veiled insult
(of sound, tone, the voice, etc) not distinct; muffled

Derived Formsveiledly (ˈveɪlɪdlɪ), adverb

Veil

noun

Simone (Annie) (simɔn). born 1927, French stateswoman; president of the European Parliament (1979–82): a survivor of Nazi concentration camps

veil

noun

a piece of more or less transparent material, usually attached to a hat or headdress, used to conceal or protect a woman's face and head
part of a nun's headdress falling round the face onto the shoulders
something that covers, conceals, or separates; maska veil of reticence
the veil the life of a nun in a religious order and the obligations entailed by it
take the veil to become a nun
Also called: velum botany a membranous structure, esp the thin layer of cells connecting the edge of a young mushroom cap with the stipe
anatomy another word for caul
See humeral veil

verb

(tr) to cover, conceal, or separate with or as if with a veil
(intr) to wear or put on a veil

Derived Formsveiler, nounveilless, adjectiveveil-like, adjective

Word Origin

C13: from Norman French veile, from Latin vēla sails, pl of vēlum a covering

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

Word Origin and History for veiled

veil

v.

late 14c., from Old French veler, voiller, from Latin velare "to cover, veil," from velum (see veil (n.)). Figurative sense of "to conceal" (something immaterial) is recorded from 1530s. Related: Veiled; veiling.

veil

n.

early 13c., from Anglo-French and Old North French veil (Old French voile) "a head-covering," also "a sail," from Latin vela, plural of velum "sail, curtain, covering," from PIE root *weg- "to weave a web." Vela was mistaken in Vulgar Latin for a feminine singular noun. To take the veil "become a nun" is attested from early 14c.

veiled in Medicine