lack of transparency
Keeping secrets deliberately
Lack of transparency describes secrecy or opacity where openness is expected or demanded.
It typically criticizes institutions, governments, or organizations for withholding information from those who have a right to it: Critics cited the committee's lack of transparency in awarding contracts.
The phrase implies deliberate concealment rather than mere oversight—accountability requires visibility, and its absence invites suspicion.
- secrecyPractice of hiding information
- behind closed doorsIn private, unobserved
- opacityImpermeability to light
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- hiddenKept out of sight
hidden agenda · murky · obscure · veiled · smoke and mirrors · shadowy · in the dark · classified · need to know · redacted · coverup · stonewalling · evasive · obfuscation · smokescreen · under the table · backroom · closed-door
- political dysfunctionmisrule, tyranny, authoritarianism, dictatorship, despotism
lack of transparencytransparency
State of being see-through
openness · full disclosure · visibility · open access · public access
lack of transparencycandor
Unguarded truthfulness
forthrightness · frankness · honesty · directness · straightforwardness
lack of transparencyaccountability
Obligation for one's actions
public accountability · oversight · answerability · public scrutiny · democratic oversight
lacks, lacked, lacking, transparent, transparency, transparently, transparencies