secret
se·cret / ˈsēkrit/ • adj. not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others: how did you guess I had a secret plan? the resupply effort was probably kept secret from Congress. ∎ not meant to be known as such by others: a secret drinker. ∎ fond of or good at keeping things about oneself unknown: he can be the most secret man. ∎ (of information or documents) given the security classification above confidential and below top secret.• n. something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others: a state secret at first I tried to keep it a secret from my wife. ∎ something that is not properly understood; a mystery: I'm not trying to explain the secrets of the universe in this book. ∎ a valid but not commonly known or recognized method of achieving or maintaining something: the secret of a happy marriage is compromise. ∎ formerly, the name of a prayer said by the priest in a low voice after the offertory in a Roman Catholic Mass.PHRASES: be in on the secret be among the few people who know something.in secret without others knowing.make no secret of something make something perfectly clear.DERIVATIVES: se·cret·ly adv.ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin secretus (adjective) ‘separate, set apart,’ from the verb secernere, from se- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘sift.’