| English Dictionary |
SECRET
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does secret mean?
• SECRET (noun)
The noun SECRET has 3 senses:
1. something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
2. information known only to a special group
3. something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
Familiarity information: SECRET used as a noun is uncommon.
• SECRET (adjective)
The adjective SECRET has 11 senses:
1. not open or public; kept private or not revealed
2. conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
3. not openly made known
4. communicated covertly
5. not expressed
6. designed to elude detection
7. hidden from general view or use
8. (of information) given in confidence or in secret
9. indulging only covertly
10. having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
11. the next to highest level of official classification for documents
Familiarity information: SECRET used as an adjective is familiar.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Context example:
he tried to keep his drinking a secret
Hypernyms ("secret" is a kind of...):
info; information (a message received and understood)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "secret"):
confidence (a secret that is confided or entrusted to another)
open secret (something that is supposed to be secret but is generally known)
trade secret (a secret (method or device or formula) that gives a manufacturer an advantage over the competition)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Information known only to a special group
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
arcanum; secret
Context example:
the secret of Cajun cooking
Hypernyms ("secret" is a kind of...):
info; information (a message received and understood)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "secret"):
esoterica (secrets known only to an initiated minority)
cabala; cabbala; cabbalah; kabala; kabbala; kabbalah; qabala; qabalah (an esoteric or occult matter resembling the Kabbalah that is traditionally secret)
countersign; parole; password; watchword; word (a secret word or phrase known only to a restricted group)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
closed book; enigma; mystery; secret
Context example:
it remains one of nature's secrets
Hypernyms ("secret" is a kind of...):
perplexity (trouble or confusion resulting from complexity)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not open or public; kept private or not revealed
Context example:
secret talks
Similar:
concealed (hidden on any grounds for any motive)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Synonyms:
clandestine; cloak-and-dagger; hole-and-corner; hugger-mugger; hush-hush; secret; surreptitious; undercover; underground
Context example:
underground resistance
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not openly made known
Synonyms:
secret; unavowed
Context example:
a secret bride
Similar:
unacknowledged (not recognized or admitted)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Communicated covertly
Context example:
secret messages
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Not expressed
Synonyms:
private; secret
Context example:
secret (or private) thoughts
Similar:
inward (relating to or existing in the mind or thoughts)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Designed to elude detection
Synonyms:
hidden; secret
Context example:
the secret compartment in the desk
Similar:
concealed (hidden on any grounds for any motive)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Hidden from general view or use
Synonyms:
Context example:
a secret garden
Similar:
private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)
Sense 8
Meaning:
(of information) given in confidence or in secret
Synonyms:
confidential; secret
Context example:
their secret communications
Similar:
private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Indulging only covertly
Context example:
a secret alcoholic
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
Synonyms:
mysterious; mystic; mystical; occult; orphic; secret
Context example:
the secret learning of the ancients
Similar:
esoteric (confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle)
Sense 11
Meaning:
The next to highest level of official classification for documents
Similar:
classified (official classification of information or documents; withheld from general circulation)
Context examples
He swelled with some secret purpose, but would say no more.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But from you I shall have no secrets.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He remembered that he had led always a secret life in his thoughts.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Is your secret a nice one?
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
You may have a new product launch, or you may be interviewing for a new position, as two examples, but either way, you will have to keep your talks secret for now.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
On Monday evening, my good friend Mrs Rooke let me thus much into the secrets of Marlborough Buildings.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Nothing was hidden from him, and it seemed as if news of the most secret things was brought to him through the air.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
It has even been suggested these breeders hold the secret of immunity to age-related diseases.
(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)
This study demonstrates that there are many secrets still to be discovered about how life in the ocean interacts with elements like arsenic.
(Arsenic-breathing microbes discovered in the tropical Pacific Ocean, National Science Foundation)
We have told our secrets, and yet no one who has told is the worse for it.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
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