SECRET | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of secret in English secretnoun uk /ˈsiː.krət/ us /ˈsiː.krət/ Add to word list Add to word list B1 [ C ] a piece of information that is only known by one person or a few people and should not be told to others: Why did you have to go and tell Bob about my illness? You just can't keep a secret, can you? A close couple should have no secrets from each other. Aren't you going to let me in on (= tell me) the secret? There's no secret (= everyone knows) about his homosexuality. She makes no secret of (= makes very clear) her dislike of her father. That restaurant is one of the best-kept secrets in Rome. [ C ] a fact about a subject that is not known: the secrets of the universe B2 [ S ] the particular knowledge and skills needed to do something very well: So what's the secret of being a good cook?

• a closely guarded secret
• It's a secret, so don't give the game away, will you?
• A secret report incriminating the company was leaked last week.
• Shall I let you in on a little secret?
• He revealed the secret under torture.

Secrecy and privacy

• anonymity
• anonymization
• anonymize
• anonymous
• anonymously
• dead men tell no tales idiom
• dissimulate
• dissimulation
• down-low
• draw someone aside
• official secret
• on the quiet idiom
• privacy
• privacy settings
• private
• underground economy
• undisclosed
• unrevealed
• unseal
• unsourced

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Knowledge and awareness

Idioms

in secret your secret's safe with me secretadjective uk /ˈsiː.krət/ us /ˈsiː.krət/ B1 If something is secret, other people are not allowed to know about it: The president escaped through a secret passage underneath the parliament building. We ought to keep these proposals secret from the chairman for the time being. This is top (= extremely) secret information. Do you think we'll manage to keep the surprise party secret from Mum until her birthday? kept hidden from other people

• secretThe spies had a secret meeting.
• covertThe government was accused of covert military operations.
• clandestineHe arranged a clandestine meeting between his client and the candidate.
• confidentialAll the information you give us will be treated as strictly confidential.
• classifiedThese documents contain classified information.

See more results » [ before noun ] used to refer to someone who has a particular habit, hobby, or feeling but does not tell or show other people that they do: a secret drinker a secret admirer

• A secret buyer is understood to have paid £1 million for the three pictures .
• She's got a secret admirer who keeps sending her gifts.
• The amazing thing is that it was kept secret for so long.
• The man's identity was being kept secret while he was helping police with enquiries.
• The trial was kept secret because of the risk of public disorder.

Secrecy and privacy

• anonymity
• anonymization
• anonymize
• anonymous
• anonymously
• dead men tell no tales idiom
• dissimulate
• dissimulation
• down-low
• draw someone aside
• official secret
• on the quiet idiom
• privacy
• privacy settings
• private
• underground economy
• undisclosed
• unrevealed
• unseal
• unsourced

See more results »

Related word

secretly (Definition of secret from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

secret | American Dictionary

secretnoun [ C ] us /ˈsi·krɪt/ Add to word list Add to word list a piece of information that is not generally known or is not known by someone else and should not be told to others: We don’t keep secrets from each other. Don’t tell anyone – it’s a secret. What’s the secret of your success (= How was it achieved)? secretadjective us /ˈsi·krət/ known, done, or kept without others knowing: secret information The peace process began with secret talks in Norway.

secrecy

noun [ U ] us /ˈsi·krə·si/ What’s the reason for all this secrecy?

secretly

adverb us /ˈsi·krɪt·li/ They secretly took photographs of Jack. (Definition of secret from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

secret | Business English

secretadjective uk /ˈsiːkrət/ us Add to word list Add to word list if something is secret, only particular people are allowed to know about it: secret deal/meeting/talks Staff were informed to keep the company's plans secret. a secret document/operation/proposal

See also

top-secret secretnoun [ C ] uk /ˈsiːkrət/ us an important piece of information that only a few people know and that should not be told to anyone else: The ingredients of the drink are a closely-guarded secret. a national/military/state secret

See also

trade secret (Definition of secret from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of secret

secret He feared both the loss of secrets and the introduction of lax methods. From the Cambridge English Corpus Above all, this is a narrator allied with the female protagonists in the keeping of eclipsing secrets. From the Cambridge English Corpus Reading and writing family secrets : reflections on mass-observation. From the Cambridge English Corpus The investigation of the language discloses the secrets of national character, otherwise impenetrable, and reveals the origin of customs long since forgotten. From the Cambridge English Corpus He rightly felt that there were few secrets of modern history in archives. From the Cambridge English Corpus The city produced more words and paper in the seventeenth century and more secrets to shield from public gaze. From the Cambridge English Corpus While not yielding all its secrets in one or even five hearings, the whole is a joy to listen to. From the Cambridge English Corpus I consider three "sites" from which meaning is generated: the spectacle; otherness and sameness/misrecognition and identity; and secrets and closets. From the Cambridge English Corpus Both stories are constructed around shameful secrets and unmentionable activities. From the Cambridge English Corpus Furthermore, the trust that developed through the befriender's continuity and reliability allowed secrets to be shared. From the Cambridge English Corpus Without giving away current editorial secrets, we agreed on the following stages. From the Cambridge English Corpus In the degraded moral climate of the city, secrets were easily translatable into commodities. From the Cambridge English Corpus To the antebellum rogue, the city's gigantic web of secrets held unlimited financial rewards, if only it could be interpreted properly. From the Cambridge English Corpus The old aristocrats had some secrets, or amabanga, as well. From the Cambridge English Corpus We keep secrets from ourselves that all along we know. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of secret These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with secret

secret

These are words often used in combination with secret.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

dark secretThere is a secret which is kept un-revealed by the people who run finance companies, and so on, a very dark secret. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0   guarded secretAs the ending was a closely guarded secret, many details had to be imagined by the playwright. From the Cambridge English Corpus   secret marriageCynthia tells her mother, and several friends, about the secret marriage between the film star and the famous war correspondent. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with secret What is the pronunciation of secret?

Translations of secret

in Chinese (Traditional) 秘密, 奧秘, 秘訣… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 秘密, 奥秘, 秘诀… See more in Spanish secreto, secreto [masculine, singular]… See more in Portuguese segredo, secreto, segredo [masculine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian गौप्य, गुपित, गुप्त… See more 秘密の, 内緒の, 秘密… See more gizli, mahrem, sır… See more secret [masculine], secret/-ète, secret… See more secret… See more geheim… See more ஒரு நபர் அல்லது ஒரு சிலரால் மட்டுமே அறியப்படும் ஒரு தகவல் மற்றும் மற்றவர்களுக்கு சொல்லக்கூடாத ஒன்று, தெரியாத ஒரு விஷயத்தைப் பற்றிய உண்மை, மிகச் சிறப்பாக ஏதாவது செய்யத் தேவையான குறிப்பிட்ட அறிவு மற்றும் திறன்கள்… See more गोपनीय बात, राज़, रहस्य… See more ખાનગી, રહસ્ય, કોઈ વસ્તુ સારી રીતે કરવા માટે જરૂરી વિશેષ જ્ઞાન અને કૌશલ્ય… See more hemmelig, hemmelighed, -hemmelighed… See more hemlig, hemlighet… See more rahsia… See more geheim, das Geheimnis… See more hemmelighet [masculine], hemmelig, skjult… See more پوشیدہ, راز کی بات, راز… See more таємний, секретний, таємниця… See more రహస్యం, తెలియని విషయం గురించి వాస్తవం, ఏదైనా బాగా చేయడానికి అవసరమైన నిర్దిష్ట జ్ఞానం మరియు నైపుణ్యాలు… See more গোপন, গোপন বিষয়, নির্দিষ্ট জ্ঞান এবং দক্ষতা… See more tajný, tajnost, tajemství… See more rahasia… See more ความลับ, เก็บเป็นความลับ, เคล็ดลับ… See more thầm kín, bí mật, điều bí mật… See more tajny, w tajemnicy, tajemnica… See more 비밀의, 비밀, 비결… See more segreto… See more Need a translator?

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secondment secondo seconds phrase secrecy secret secret admirer secret agent secret ballot secret police {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of secret

• secret police
• Secret Service
• top-secret
• trade secret
• well-kept secret
• open secret
• top secret

See all meanings

• in secret idiom
• keep a secret phrase
• let someone in on a secret idiom
• your secret's safe with me idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

in all modesty

said when you want to say something good about yourself, but do not want to seem to think you are too important

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• English   NounAdjective
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  • Adjective 
    • secret
  • Noun 
    • secrecy
  • Adverb 
    • secretly
• Business   AdjectiveNoun
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