Meaning of secret in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈsikrɪt/

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    UK accent

  1. Classifying Adjective

    secret

    Definitions

    1. not open or public

    Examples

    • « kept private or not revealed »
    • « a secret formula »
    • « secret ingredients »
    • « secret talks »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods

    Examples

    • « clandestine intelligence operations »
    • « cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines »
    • « hole-and-corner intrigue »
    • « secret missions »
    • « a secret agent »
    • « secret sales of arms »
    • « surreptitious mobilizati »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. not openly made known

    Examples

    • « a secret marriage »
    • « a secret bride »

    Synonyms

  4. 4. communicated covertly

    Examples

    • « their a secret signal was a wink »
    • « secret messages »

    Synonyms

  5. 5. not expressed

    Examples

    • « secret (or private) thoughts »

    Synonyms

  6. 6. designed to elude detection

    Examples

    • « a hidden room or place of concealment such as a priest hole »
    • « a secret passage »
    • « the secret compartment in the desk »

    Synonyms

  7. 7. hidden from general view or use

    Examples

    • « a privy place to rest and think »
    • « a secluded romantic spot »
    • « a secret garden »

    Synonyms

  8. 8. (of information) given in confidence or in secret

    Examples

    • « closet information »
    • « this arrangement must be kept confidential »
    • « their secret communications »

    Synonyms

  9. 9. indulging only covertly

    Examples

    • « a closet alcoholic »
    • « closet liberals »

    Synonyms

  10. 10. having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence

    Examples

    • « beyond ordinary understanding »
    • « mysterious symbols »
    • « the mystical style of Blake »
    • « occult lore »
    • « the secret learning of the ancients »

    Synonyms

  11. 11. the next to highest level of official classification for documents

    Synonyms

  12. Noun

    secret

    Definitions

    1. something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)

    Examples

    • « the combination to the safe was a secret »
    • « he tried to keep his drinking a secret »
  13. 2. information known only to a special group

    Examples

    • « the secret of Cajun cooking »
  14. 3. something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained

    Examples

    • « how it got out is a mystery »
    • « it remains one of nature's secrets »

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. »
    Swami Sivananda
  • « All human language draws its nature and value from the fact that it both comes from the Word of God and is chosen by God to manifest himself. But this relationship is secret and incomprehensible, beyond the bounds of reason and analysis. »
    Jacques Ellul
  • « In the Top 40, half the songs are secret messages to the teen world to drop out, turn on, and groove with the chemicals and light shows at discotheques. »
    Art Linkletter
  • « Hidden nature is secret God. »
    Sri Aurobindo
  • « When I write now I do not invent situation, characters, or actions, but rather structures and discursive forms, textual groupings which are combined according to secret affinities among themselves, as in architecture or the plastic arts. »
    Juan Goytisolo

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