code word
Covert verbal signal
A code word is a word or phrase with a secret meaning known only to a select group.
Spies use code words to communicate covertly; military operations receive code word designations.
More broadly, code word describes any term that signals something beyond its surface meaning: "Family values" became a code word for opposition to gay rights.
The implication is often that the real meaning is deliberately obscured.
- passwordAuthentication string
- watchwordRallying cry or principle
- secret handshakeMembers-only coded greeting
- hushAbsence of sound
- dog whistleHigh-frequency pet caller
wink wink · signal · message · shibboleth · euphemism · whisper · cipher · discreet · distress signal · subtext · clandestine · innuendo · open sesame · buzzword · alias · steganography · under the radar · encryption
- codespassword, binary, DNA, RNA, passcode
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- secret codescipher, password, passphrase, cipher key, ciphers
- secretssecrecy, secret, trade secret, secrets, confidential
- word puzzlesanagram, crossword, jumble, scramble, cryptogram
- military communicationsradio, walkie-talkie, radio operators, signal flags, encrypted message
code wordplain speech
Unembellished verbal expression
plain language · plain English · straight talk · plain text · direct speech
code wordpublic announcement
Official communication to all
open communication · public disclosure · open secret · broadcast · declaration
word, code, decode, coded, codes, coding, coder, decoded, decodes