secret

[ see-krit ]

adjective

1. done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others:

   secret negotiations.

   Synonyms: covert, hidden, clandestine

   Antonyms: manifest, open

2. kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged:

   a secret password.

   Synonyms: confidential, private

3. faithful or cautious in keeping confidential matters confidential; close-mouthed; discreet.

   Synonyms: reticent, secretive, close

4. designed or working to escape notice, knowledge, or observation: the secret police.

   a secret drawer;

   the secret police.

5. secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn:

   a secret hiding place.

6. beyond ordinary human understanding; esoteric.

   Synonyms: mysterious, cryptic, occult

7. (of information, a document, etc.)
   1. bearing the classification secret.
   2. limited to persons authorized to use information documents, etc., so classified.

noun

1. something that is or is kept secret, hidden, or concealed.
2. a mystery:

   the secrets of nature.

3. a reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent.
4. a method, formula, plan, etc., known only to the initiated or the few: a trade secret.

   the secret of happiness;

   a trade secret.

5. 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. Compare classification ( def 5 ).
6. (initial capital letter) Liturgy. a variable prayer in the Roman and other Latin liturgies, said inaudibly by the celebrant after the offertory and immediately before the preface.

secret

/ ˈsiːkrɪt /

adjective

1. kept hidden or separate from the knowledge of others cryptic
2. known only to initiates

   a secret password

3. hidden from general view or use

   a secret garden

4. able or tending to keep things private or to oneself
5. operating without the knowledge of outsiders

   a secret society

6. outside the normal range of knowledge

noun

1. something kept or to be kept hidden
2. something unrevealed; mystery
3. an underlying explanation, reason, etc, that is not apparent

   the secret of success

4. a method, plan, etc, known only to initiates
5. liturgy a variable prayer, part of the Mass, said by the celebrant after the offertory and before the preface
6. in the secret
   among the people who know a secret

Derived Forms

• ˈsecretly, adverb

Other Words From

• se·cret·ly adverb
• se·cret·ness noun
• non·se·cret adjective noun
• qua·si-se·cret adjective
• sem·i·se·cret adjective
• su·per·se·cret noun
• ul·tra·se·cret adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of secret¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin sēcrētus “hidden,” originally past participle of sēcernere “to secern ”

Word History and Origins

Origin of secret¹

C14: via Old French from Latin sēcrētus concealed, from sēcernere to sift; see secern

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in secret, unknown to others; in private; secretly:

   A resistance movement was already being organized in secret.

More idioms and phrases containing secret

see in secret ; open secret .

Example Sentences

For decades, successive governments have denied there was a secret monitoring programme - but the veterans say recently declassified files support their memories of medical staff taking blood and urine samples.

From BBC

What is it like for you knowing you’re going to have to go through this whole promotional cycle again, that there’s a whole secret movie that people want to know about?

From Los Angeles Times

From the beginning of his learning curve, Charles charges ahead with a mixture of professional determination, childlike glee and scientific precision — finding the atmosphere “rife with secrets, grudges, interpersonal issues.”

From Los Angeles Times

Michael McConville has said that the portrayal of his mother's murder and secret burial by the IRA in a new Disney drama is "horrendous" and "cruel".

From BBC

A World War I-era law, the Espionage Act, makes it a crime to solicit or disclose national security secrets without authorization.

From New York Times

Related Words

• code
• confidential information
• key
• mystery