secret

Pronunciation: /ˈsiːkrɪt/

Translate secret | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

Definition of secret

adjective

not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others:how did you guess I’d got a secret plan? the resupply effort was probably kept secret from Congress
[attributive] not meant to be known as such by others:a secret drinker
fond of or good at keeping things about oneself unknown:he can be the most secret man

noun

something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others:a state secret at first I tried to keep it a secret from my wife
something that is not properly understood; a mystery:I’m not trying to explain the secrets of the universe in this book
a valid but not commonly known or recognized method of achieving or maintaining something:the secret of a happy marriage is compromise
a prayer said by the priest in a low voice after the offertory in a Roman Catholic Mass.

Phrases

be in (on) the secret: be among the small number of people who know something: only Linda was let in on the secret
in secret: without others knowing.
make no secret of something: make something perfectly clear: they made no secret of their hatred for him

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin secretus (adjective) 'separate, set apart', from the verb secernere, from se- 'apart' + cernere 'sift'

secret in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of secret in the US English dictionary

Subscriber login

Library card login

Other

secret

adjective

noun

Phrases

be in (on) the secret

in secret

make no secret of something

Origin:

secret in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

More results for secret

Word of the day

kempt