hidden identity
Concealed true persona
A hidden identity is who someone really is beneath a public persona or disguise.
The term suggests deliberate concealment—a superhero's secret civilian life, a spy operating under cover, a writer using a pseudonym.
She suspected the quiet accountant had a hidden identity.
The phrase implies eventual revelation: hidden identities exist to be discovered.
- aliasAdopted false name
- incognitoWith identity concealed
- alter egoA secondary persona
- anonymityUnknown identity state
- spycraftMethods of secret agents
pseudonym · doppelgänger · shapeshifter · disguise · nom de plume · mole · pen name · witness protection · undercover agent · Clark Kent · sock puppet · double life · cover story · sleeper agent · dissociation · catfish · steganography · false front
- Shakespeare disguisesRosalind, cross-dressing, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Portia
- Unknown Identitiesstrangers, unknowns, Jane Doe, John Doe, anonymous
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- backstoryorigin story, origin, past, background, history
- concealmentconceal, hiding, concealing, concealed, hide
privacy/publicity
hidden identitypublic figure
Prominent, widely recognized person
celebrity · household name · known quantity · fame · notoriety