keep to oneself

1. Also, keep oneself to oneself . Shun the company of others, value one's privacy, as in She kept to herself all morning , or, as Doris Lessing put it in In Pursuit of the English (1960): “She keeps herself to herself so much.” [Late 1600s]

2. Refrain from revealing, hold secret, as in He promised to keep the news to himself . Also see the synonym keep under one's hat .

Example Sentences

Indeed, sometimes the sort of thing that might be best kept to oneself.

From BBC

“But still, things of that sort are usually kept to oneself.”

From Project Gutenberg

Or perhaps they had just learned a lesson that Mr. Tale-Yax so clearly had not: better to keep to oneself than to risk the trouble that comes from extending a helping hand.

From New York Times

One should not be an artist save when one absolutely cannot keep to oneself the feeling one has—only when one has too much feeling.

From Project Gutenberg

One could buy expensive digital books which one was allowed to share, quote, or copy for classroom use, and cheaper ones which one had to keep to oneself.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• conceal
• deduct
• deny
• detain
• hide
• keep
• refuse
• resist
• retain
• suppress