| / English Dictionary |
SECRET
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
Example:
it remains one of nature's secrets
Synonyms:
closed book; enigma; mystery; secret
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("secret" is a kind of...):
perplexity (trouble or confusion resulting from complexity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Information known only to a special group
Example:
the secret of Cajun cooking
Synonyms:
arcanum; secret
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
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 should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
Example:
he tried to keep his drinking a secret
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
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)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not openly made known
Example:
a secret bride
Synonyms:
secret; unavowed
Classified under:
Similar:
unacknowledged (not recognized or admitted)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The next to highest level of official classification for documents
Classified under:
Similar:
classified (official classification of information or documents; withheld from general circulation)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
Example:
the secret learning of the ancients
Synonyms:
mysterious; mystic; mystical; occult; orphic; secret
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
esoteric (confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Not expressed
Example:
secret (or private) thoughts
Synonyms:
private; secret
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
inward (relating to or existing in the mind or thoughts)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
Example:
underground resistance
Synonyms:
clandestine; cloak-and-dagger; hole-and-corner; hugger-mugger; hush-hush; secret; surreptitious; undercover; underground
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Indulging only covertly
Example:
a secret alcoholic
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Communicated covertly
Example:
secret messages
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 8
Meaning:
(of information) given in confidence or in secret
Example:
their secret communications
Synonyms:
confidential; secret
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Hidden from general view or use
Example:
a secret garden
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Designed to elude detection
Example:
the secret compartment in the desk
Synonyms:
hidden; secret
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
concealed (hidden on any grounds for any motive)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Not open or public; kept private or not revealed
Example:
secret talks
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
concealed (hidden on any grounds for any motive)
Context examples:
But how— Was there a secret marriage?
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
What is it? What is your secret, Agnes?
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Yet it was a secret growth.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
“I am convinced that in the case of a secret of this importance it would rise superior to the most intimate domestic ties.”
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But between him and Alice, the master's wife, there existed a secret.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The disclosure, however, of the great secret of James's going to Fullerton the day before, did raise some emotion in Mrs. Allen.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
It was fear—a deep, secret, shrinking fear.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My promise to Lucy, obliged me to be secret.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He told me it was to be a great secret; and, therefore, I should not think of mentioning it to any body but you, but he said you knew it.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Well, gentlemen, continued the captain, I don't know who has this map; but I make it a point, it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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