CLANDESTINE


Meaning of CLANDESTINE in English

clan ‧ des ‧ tine /klænˈdestən, klænˈdestɪn/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: clandestinus , from clam 'secretly' ]

done or kept secret:

a clandestine affair

clandestine meetings

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THESAURUS

▪ secret known about by only a few people, who have agreed not to tell anyone else:

a secret meeting place

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The details of the proposal must remain secret.

▪ confidential used about information, especially in business or government, that is secret and not intended to be shown or told to other people:

a highly confidential report

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Employees’ personal details are treated as strictly confidential.

▪ classified used about information that the government has ordered to be kept secret from most people:

He was accused of passing on classified information to the Russians in the 1950s.

▪ sensitive used about information that is kept secret because there would be problems if the wrong people knew it:

A teenager managed to hack into sensitive US Air Force files.

▪ covert [only before noun] used about things that are done secretly, especially by a government or official organization:

a CIA covert operation

▪ undercover [usually before noun] used about things that are done secretly by the police in order to catch criminals or find out information:

Detectives arrested the suspect after a five-day undercover operation.

▪ underground an underground organization or newspaper is one that operates or is produced secretly and opposes the government:

Her father was a member of the underground resistance movement in France during World War II.

▪ clandestine /klænˈdestən, klænˈdestɪn/ secret and often illegal or immoral:

clandestine meetings

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his involvement in a clandestine operation to sell arms to Iran

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a clandestine love affair

▪ hush-hush informal used about information or activities that are kept officially secret:

He was put in charge of some hush-hush military project.

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I’ve no idea what he does – it’s all very hush-hush.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.