Meaning of secret In English

• 0 a piece of information that is only known by one person or a few people and should not be told to others:

  • Why did you have to go and tell Bob about my illness? You just can't keep a secret, can you?

  • A close couple should have no secrets from each other.

  • Aren't you going to let me in on (= tell me) the secret?

  • There's no secret (= everyone knows) about his homosexuality.

  • She makes no secret of (= makes very clear) her dislike of her father.

  • That restaurant is one of the best-kept secrets in Rome.

  • the secrets of the universe

  • So what's the secret of being a good cook?

• 1 If something is secret, other people are not allowed to know about it:

  • The president escaped through a secret passage underneath the parliament building.

  • We ought to keep these proposals secret from the chairman for the time being.

  • This is top (= extremely) secret information.

  • Do you think we'll manage to keep the surprise party secret from Mum until her birthday?

  • a secret drinker

  • a secret admirer

• 2 a piece of information that is not generally known or is not known by someone else and should not be told to others:

  • We don’t keep secrets from each other.

  • Don’t tell anyone – it’s a secret.

  • What’s the secret of your success (= How was it achieved)?

• 3 known, done, or kept without others knowing:

  • secret information

  • The peace process began with secret talks in Norway.

• 4 if something is secret, only particular people are allowed to know about it:

  • secret deal/meeting/talks

  • Staff were informed to keep the company's plans secret.

  • a secret document/operation/proposal

• 5 an important piece of information that only a few people know and that should not be told to anyone else:

  • The ingredients of the drink are a closely-guarded secret.

  • a national/military/state secret