Definition of 'secret'

Word Frequency

secret (siːkrɪt )

Word forms: plural secrets

1. adjective

If something is secret, it is known about by only a small number of people, and is not told or shown to anyone else.

Soldiers have been training at a secret location.

The police have been trying to keep the documents secret.

Synonyms: undisclosed, unknown, confidential, underground More Synonyms of secret

secretly adverb

He wore a hidden microphone to secretly tape-record conversations.

...secretly organised events.

Synonyms: in secret, privately, surreptitiously, quietly More Synonyms of secret

Synonyms: privately, in your heart of hearts, in your innermost thoughts More Synonyms of secret

secret (ˈsiːkrɪt )

adjective

kept hidden or separate from the knowledge of others

▶ Related adjective: cryptic

known only to initiates

a secret password

hidden from general view or use

a secret garden

able or tending to keep things private or to oneself

operating without the knowledge of outsiders

a secret society

outside the normal range of knowledge

noun

something kept or to be kept hidden

something unrevealed; mystery

an underlying explanation, reason, etc, that is not apparent

the secret of success

10.

a method, plan, etc, known only to initiates

11. liturgy

a variable prayer, part of the Mass, said by the celebrant after the offertory and before the preface

12. in the secret

Derived forms

secretly (ˈsecretly)

adverb

Word origin of 'secret'

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

Word Frequency

secret in American English (ˈsikrɪt ; sēˈkrit)

adjective

kept from public knowledge or from the knowledge of a certain person or persons

withdrawn, remote, or secluded

a secret hideaway

keeping one's affairs to oneself; secretive

beyond general knowledge or understanding; mysterious or esoteric

concealed from sight or notice; hidden

a secret drawer

acting in secret

a secret society

noun

something known only to a certain person or persons and purposely kept from the knowledge of others

something not revealed, understood, or explained; mystery

the secret of Stonehenge

the true cause or explanation, regarded as not obvious

the secret of one's success

10. [S-]

a prayer said just before the Preface of the Mass

Idioms:

in secret

SYNONYMY NOTE: secret, the general term, implies a concealing or keeping from the knowledge of others, for whatever reason [my secret opinion of him]; covert implies a concealing as by disguising or veiling [a covert threat]; clandestine suggests that what is being kept secret is of an illicit, immoral, or proscribed nature [their clandestine meetings in the park]; stealthy implies a slow, quiet secrecy of action in an attempt to elude notice and often connotes deceit [the stealthy advance of the panther]; furtive adds to this connotations of slyness or watchfulness and suggests a reprehensible objective [the furtive movement of his hand toward my pocket]; surreptitious connotes a feeling of guilt in the one who is acting in a furtive or stealthy manner [she stole a surreptitious glance at him]; underhanded implies a stealthiness characterized by fraudulence or deceit [underhanded business dealings]

OPPOSITES: open, obvious

Derived forms

secretly (ˈsecretly)

adverb

Word origin of 'secret'

OFr < L secretus, pp. of secernere, to set apart < se-, apart (see secede) + cernere, to sift, distinguish: see harvest

Example sentences containing 'secret'

Her secret work for social justice was an endless `Hail Mary ', penance for her self-confessed sins.

Robert Wilson THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (2002)

He slowly closed his eye, and a small and secret smile spread across his mouth.

Garth Nix LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR (2002)

And maybe your DI thought Jax had let him in on their little secret.

Anthony Masters CASCADES - THE DAY OF THE DEAD (2002)

But the secrets of the Nimrod mission remain very secret in our country.

Patrick Robinson BARRACUDA 945 (2002)

Quotations

They have a skeleton in their closet

William Makepeace Thackeray The Newcomes

I know that's a secret, for it's whispered every where

William Congreve Love for Love

For secrets are edged tools,
And must be kept from children and from fools

John Dryden Sir Martin Mar-All

Trends of 'secret'

Translations for 'secret'

British English: secret /ˈsiːkrɪt/ ADJECTIVE
If something is secret, it is known about by only a small number of people, and is not told or shown to anyone else.The police tried to keep the documents secret.

Arabic: سِرِّيّ
Brazilian Portuguese: secreto secreta
Chinese: 秘密的
Croatian: tajni tajna
Czech: tajný
Danish: hemmelig
Dutch: geheim
European Spanish: secreto secreta
Finnish: salainen
French: secret
German: geheim
Greek: μυστικός μυστική
Italian: segreto segreta
Japanese: 秘密の
Korean: 비밀의
Norwegian: hemmelig
Polish: tajny tajna
Portuguese: secreto secreta
Romanian: secret secret, secretă, secreți, secrete
Russian: тайный тайная
Spanish: secreto secreta
Swedish: hemlig hemligt
Thai: เป็นความลับ
Turkish: gizli
Ukrainian: секретний
Vietnamese: bí mật

British English: secret /ˈsiːkrɪt/ NOUN
A secret is a fact that is known by only a small number of people, and is not told to anyone else.Can you keep a secret?