secret
Not for sharing
Secret describes something kept hidden from others or known only to a select few.
A secret recipe is guarded, a secret affair concealed.
As a noun, a secret is the hidden information itself: Can you keep a secret?
The phrase in secret means privately or covertly.
An open secret is something supposedly confidential that everyone actually knows.
Made invisible deliberately
- hiddenKept out of sight
- covertIntentionally concealed
- veiledConcealed or obscured
- obscuredMade hard to perceive
shrouded · camouflaged · disguised · masked · covered · underground · tucked away · stashed
Restricted from disclosure
- confidentialMeant to stay secret
- privateRestricted to certain parties
- privilegedHaving special advantages
- sensitiveEasily affected emotionally
restricted · hush-hush · off-the-record · clearance · redacted · sealed · embargo · need-to-know
Something hard to fathom
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
- crypticObscure in meaning
arcane · unknown · cipher · code · clue · conundrum · occult · esoteric
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- rendezvousScheduled meeting at agreed location
- trystSecret romantic meeting
- liaisonConnector between groups
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
forbidden · illicit · lover · mistress · paramour · assignation · double life · infidelity
Secretive and sly
- stealthySecretly cautious in movement
- surreptitiousDone secretly, avoiding detection
- sneakyStealthily deceptive
- skulkingMoving furtively, covertly
evasive · subtle · quiet · hushed · conspiratorial · scheming · plotting · whispering
concealed
Made invisible deliberately
obscured · shrouded · camouflaged · disguised · masked · covered · underground · tucked away · stashed · buried
classified
Restricted from disclosure
- confidentialMeant to stay secret
- privateRestricted to certain parties
- privilegedHaving special advantages
sensitive · restricted · hush-hush · off-the-record · clearance · redacted · sealed · embargo · need-to-know · insider
enigma
Something hard to fathom
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
cryptic · arcane · unknown · cipher · code · clue · conundrum · occult · esoteric · sphinx
affair
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- rendezvousScheduled meeting at agreed location
- trystSecret romantic meeting
- liaisonConnector between groups
clandestine · forbidden · illicit · lover · mistress · paramour · assignation · double life · infidelity · adultery
furtive
Secretive and sly
- stealthySecretly cautious in movement
- surreptitiousDone secretly, avoiding detection
- sneakyStealthily deceptive
skulking · evasive · subtle · quiet · hushed · conspiratorial · scheming · plotting · whispering · sidelong
- relationshipsfriends, romantic, family, friend, flirting
- gameplaypower-up, level cap, save point, game over, tutorial level
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- classifiedconfidential, restricted, sensitive, clearance, redacted
- concealmentconceal, hiding, concealing, concealed, hide
secretunclassified
Not assigned a category
declassified · public · unrestricted · nonsecret · open-source
- top secretHighest classification level
- secret agentClandestine government operative
- secret codeEncrypted communication system
- dark secretConcealed shameful knowledge
- dirty secretConcealed shameful information
- open secretKnown fact nobody admits
secretly, secrecy, secretive, secrets, secretary, secretion, secrete, secretaries, secreted