- secret
- [[t]si͟ːkrɪt[/t]]
♦♦secrets1) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n, v n ADJ, v-link ADJ If something is secret, it is known about by only a small number of people, and is not told or shown to anyone else.→ See also top secret
Soldiers have been training at a secret location...
The police have been trying to keep the documents secret.
Derived words:secretly ADV-GRADED ADV with v, ADV adj/nHe wore a hidden microphone to secretly tape-record conversations.
...secretly organised events.
2) N-COUNT A secret is a fact that is known by only a small number of people, and is not told to anyone else.I think he enjoyed keeping our love a secret...
I didn't want anyone to know about it, it was my secret.
3) N-SING: the N, oft the N of n If you say that a particular way of doing things is the secret of achieving something, you mean that it is the best or only way to achieve it.The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing...
I learned something about writing. The secret is to say less than you need.
4) N-COUNT: usu pl, oft with poss Something's secrets are the things about it which have never been fully explained.We have an opportunity now to really unlock the secrets of the universe...
The past is riddled with deep dark secrets.
5) PHRASE: PHR after v If you do something in secret, you do it without anyone else knowing.Dan found out that I had been meeting my ex-boyfriend in secret.
6) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.Tom was utterly indiscreet, and could never keep a secret.
7) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR of n If you make no secret of something, you tell others about it openly and clearly.His wife made no secret of her hatred for the formal occasions...
Ministers are making no secret about their wish to buy American weapons.
English dictionary. 2008.
