secret
adjective
[ ˈsiːkrɪt ]
• not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others.
• "how did you guess I'd got a secret plan?"
Similar:
confidential,
strictly confidential,
top secret,
classified,
restricted,
unrevealed,
undisclosed,
unpublished,
untold,
unknown,
uncommunicated,
behind someone's back,
under wraps,
unofficial,
off the record,
not to be made public,
not to be disclosed,
sub rosa,
hush-hush,
mum,
hidden,
concealed,
camouflaged,
disguised,
unnoticeable,
invisible,
inconspicuous,
clandestine,
covert,
undercover,
underground,
shrouded,
conspiratorial,
surreptitious,
stealthy,
cloak-and-dagger,
hole-and-corner,
closet,
sneaky,
sly,
underhand,
shifty,
furtive,
black,
cryptic,
encoded,
coded,
enciphered,
mysterious,
abstruse,
recondite,
arcane,
esoteric,
cabbalistic,
secluded,
private,
sheltered,
undisturbed,
unfrequented,
solitary,
lonely,
sequestered,
out of the way,
remote,
isolated,
off the beaten track,
tucked away,
cut-off,
secret
noun
• something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
• "a state secret"
Similar:
confidential matter,
confidence,
private affair,
skeleton in the cupboard,
skeleton in the closet,
Opposite:
public knowledge,
Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin secretus (adjective) ‘separate, set apart’, from the verb secernere, from se- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘sift’.
in secret
• without others knowing.
Similar:
secretly,
without anyone knowing,
in private,
privately,
in confidence,
confidentially,
behind closed doors,
behind the scenes,
behind someone's back,
under cover,
under the counter,
discreetly,
unobserved,
quietly,
furtively,
stealthily,
on the sly,
on the quiet,
privily,
conspiratorially,
covertly,
clandestinely,
on the side,
sub rosa,
in camera,
on the q.t.,
