1. Kept hidden from knowledge or view; concealed. 2. Dependably discreet. 3. Operating in a hidden or confidential manner: a secret agent.4. Not expressed; inward: their secret thoughts.5. Not frequented; secluded: wandered about the secret byways of Paris.6. Known or shared only by the initiated: secret rites.7. Beyond ordinary understanding; mysterious. 8. Containing information, the unauthorized disclosure of which poses a grave threat to national security.
NOUN:
1. Something kept hidden from others or known only to oneself or to a few. 2. Something that remains beyond understanding or explanation; a mystery. 3. A method or formula on which success is based: The secret of this dish is in the sauce.4.Secret A variable prayer said after the Offertory and before the Preface in the Mass.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old French, from Latin scrtus, from past participle of scernere, to set aside : s-, apart; see s(w)e- in Appendix I + cernere, to separate; see krei- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:
secret·ly —ADVERB
SYNONYMS:
secret, stealthy, covert, clandestine, furtive, surreptitious, underhand These adjectives mean deliberately hidden from view or knowledge. Secret is the most general: a desk with a secret compartment; secret negotiations.Stealthy suggests quiet, cautious deceptiveness intended to escape notice: heard stealthy footsteps on the stairs.Covert describes something that is concealed or disguised: protested covert actions undertaken by the CIA.Clandestine implies stealth and secrecy for the concealment of an often illegal or improper purpose: clandestine intelligence operations.Furtive suggests the slyness, shiftiness, and evasiveness of a thief: a menacing and furtive look to his eye. Something surreptitious is stealthy, furtive, and often unseemly or unethical: the surreptitious mobilization of troops preparing for a sneak attack.Underhand implies unfairness, deceit, or slyness as well as secrecy: achieved success by underhand methods.
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