SECRET | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
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English (UK)

Meaning of secret in English

secret
noun
uk
/ˈsiː.krət/ us
/ˈsiː.krət/
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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?
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Secrecy and privacy
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Idioms

in secret
your secret's safe with me
secret
adjective
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?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
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.
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[ 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
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Secrecy and privacy
See more results »

Related word

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

secret | American Dictionary

secret
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈsi·krɪt/
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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)?
secret
adjective
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

secret
adjective
uk
/ˈsiːkrət/ us
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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
secret
noun [ 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 secret
There 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 secret
As the ending was a closely guarded secret, many details had to be imagined by the playwright.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
secret marriage
Cynthia 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…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
秘密, 奥秘, 秘诀…
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in Spanish
secreto, secreto [masculine, singular]…
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in Portuguese
segredo, secreto, segredo [masculine]…
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in more languages
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 Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
गौप्य, गुपित, गुप्त…
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秘密の, 内緒の, 秘密…
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gizli, mahrem, sır…
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secret [masculine], secret/-ète, secret…
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secret…
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geheim…
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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…
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गोपनीय बात, राज़, रहस्य…
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ખાનગી, રહસ્ય, કોઈ વસ્તુ સારી રીતે કરવા માટે જરૂરી વિશેષ જ્ઞાન અને કૌશલ્ય…
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hemmelig, hemmelighed, -hemmelighed…
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hemlig, hemlighet…
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rahsia…
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geheim, das Geheimnis…
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hemmelighet [masculine], hemmelig, skjult…
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پوشیدہ, راز کی بات, راز…
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таємний, секретний, таємниця…
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тайный, секрет, тайна…
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రహస్యం, తెలియని విషయం గురించి వాస్తవం, ఏదైనా బాగా చేయడానికి అవసరమైన నిర్దిష్ట జ్ఞానం మరియు నైపుణ్యాలు…
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سِرّي, سِرّ…
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গোপন, গোপন বিষয়, নির্দিষ্ট জ্ঞান এবং দক্ষতা…
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tajný, tajnost, tajemství…
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rahasia…
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ความลับ, เก็บเป็นความลับ, เคล็ดลับ…
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thầm kín, bí mật, điều bí mật…
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tajny, w tajemnicy, tajemnica…
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비밀의, 비밀, 비결…
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segreto…
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Word of the Day

scripted

UK
/ˈskrɪp.tɪd/
US
/ˈskrɪp.tɪd/

A scripted speech or broadcast has been written before it is read or performed.

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