/ ˈsiːkrət; NAmE / adjective , noun
■ adjective
1.
secret (from sb) known about by only a few people; kept hidden from others :
secret information / meetings / talks
He tried to keep it secret from his family.
Details of the proposals remain secret.
a secret passage leading to the beach
—see also top secret
2.
[ only before noun ] used to describe actions and behaviour that you do not tell other people about :
He's a secret drinker.
her secret fears
a secret room
3.
[ not usually before noun ] secret (about sth) ( of a person or their behaviour ) liking to have secrets that other people do not know about; showing this
SYN secretive :
They were so secret about everything.
Jessica caught a secret smile flitting between the two of them.
► se·cret·ly adverb :
The police had secretly filmed the conversations.
She was secretly pleased to see him.
■ noun
1.
[ C ] something that is known about by only a few people and not told to others :
Can you keep a secret ?
The location of the ship is a closely-guarded secret .
Shall we let him in on (= tell him) the secret ?
He made no secret of his ambition (= he didn't try to hide it) .
She was dismissed for revealing trade secrets.
official / State secrets
2.
(usually the secret ) [ sing. ] the best or only way to achieve sth; the way a particular person achieves sth :
Careful planning is the secret of success.
She still looks so young. What's her secret?
3.
[ C , usually pl. ] a thing that is not yet fully understood or that is difficult to understand :
the secrets of the universe
•
IDIOMS
- in secret
—more at guilty adjective , open adjective
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from Old French , from Latin secretus (adjective) separate, set apart, from the verb secernere , from se- apart + cernere sift.