Definition of 'secret'
Word forms: plural secrets
1. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] [verb-link 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.
3. countable noun
A secret is a fact that is known by only a small number of people, and is not told to anyone else.
I think he enjoyed keeping our love a secret.
I didn't want anyone to know about it, it was my secret.
4. singular noun
5. countable noun [usually plural, oft with poss]
6.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of 'secret'
adjective
noun
7.
something kept or to be kept hidden
8.
something unrevealed; mystery
11. liturgy
12. in the secret
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
adverb
Word origin of 'secret'
adjective
1.
kept from public knowledge or from the knowledge of a certain person or persons
4.
6.
acting in secret
a secret society
noun
7.
something known only to a certain person or persons and purposely kept from the knowledge of others
10. [S-]
a prayer said just before the Preface of the Mass
Idioms:
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
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
adverb
Example sentences containing 'secret'
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content.
Read more…
Her secret work for social justice was an endless `Hail Mary ', penance for her self-confessed sins. THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (2002)He slowly closed his eye, and a small and secret smile spread across his mouth. LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR (2002)And maybe your DI thought Jax had let him in on their little secret. CASCADES - THE DAY OF THE DEAD (2002)
Trends of 'secret'
Very Common. secret is one of the 4000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary
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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.
- American English: secret
- Arabic: سِرِّيّ
- Brazilian Portuguese: secreto
- Chinese: 秘密的
- Croatian: tajni
- Czech: tajný
- Danish: hemmelig
- Dutch: geheim
- European Spanish: secreto
- Finnish: salainen
- French: secret
- German: geheim
- Greek: μυστικός
- Italian: segreto
- Japanese: 秘密の
- Korean: 비밀의
- Norwegian: hemmelig
- Polish: tajny
- European Portuguese: secreto
- Romanian: secret
- Russian: тайный
- Spanish: secreto
- Swedish: hemlig
- 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?
- American English: secret
- Arabic: سِرّ
- Brazilian Portuguese: segredo
- Chinese: 秘密
- Croatian: tajna
- Czech: tajemství
- Danish: hemmelighed
- Dutch: geheim
- European Spanish: secreto
- Finnish: salaisuus
- French: secret
- German: Geheimnis
- Greek: μυστικό
- Italian: segreto
- Japanese: 秘密
- Korean: 비밀
- Norwegian: hemmelighet
- Polish: sekret
- European Portuguese: segredo
- Romanian: secret
- Russian: секрет
- Spanish: secreto
- Swedish: hemlighet
- Thai: ความลับ
- Turkish: sır
- Ukrainian: секрет
- Vietnamese: điều bí mật
Nearby words of 'secret'
Related Terms of 'secret'
Source
Definition of secret from the
Collins English Dictionary
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