Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Secret; Classified: Refers to information, activities, or objects that are deliberately kept hidden from knowledge or view, especially to maintain security, privacy, or advantage.
   • Clandestine; Covert: Describes activities carried out in a concealed or surreptitious manner, often for strategic or illicit purposes.
   • Mysterious; Enigmatic: Describes an aura or quality of being difficult or impossible to understand, explain, or identify.

2. Noun:

   • A secret: A piece of information, a fact, or a matter that is kept hidden or known only to a limited group of people.
   • A mystery: Something that is not fully understood or is puzzling.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Đây là một văn kiện bí mật. (This is a secret document.)
  • Họ tiến hành công tác bí mật. (They carry out clandestine work.)
  • Khu vườn đó có vẻ bí mật. (That garden has a mysterious air.)

• Noun:

  • Mọi người phải giữ bí mật quốc gia. (Everyone must keep state secrets.)
  • Nhà khoa học muốn khám phá bí mật của vũ trụ. (The scientist wants to explore the secrets of the universe.)

Advanced Usage

• "Hầm bí mật": A secret shelter; an underground hideout.

  • Họ ẩn náu trong một hầm bí mật. (They hid in a secret shelter.)

• The concept is often used in legal and state contexts, such as "bí mật quốc gia" (state secret) or "bí mật quân sự" (military secret), where disclosure is prohibited by law.

Variants and Related Words

• Bí ẩn (adj/n): Mysterious, mystery. Often overlaps with "bí mật" in the sense of something unknown or puzzling, but "bí ẩn" emphasizes the enigmatic aspect more strongly.

  • Câu chuyện đó chứa đựng nhiều điều bí ẩn. (That story contains many mysteries.)

• Giữ bí mật (verb phrase): To keep a secret.

  • Bạn có thể giữ bí mật này không? (Can you keep this secret?)

• Tiết lộ bí mật / Lộ bí mật (verb phrase): To reveal/leak a secret.

  • Hành động đó có thể lộ bí mật quan trọng. (That action could leak an important secret.)

Synonyms

• Adjective: Classified, hidden, covert, undercover, enigmatic.
• Noun: Confidentiality, mystery, enigma.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Bí mật như bưng: To be extremely secretive; lit. "secret as if covered by a tray" (to keep a tight lid on something).

  • Dự án đó được giữ bí mật như bưng. (That project is kept under wraps.)

• Bật mí bí mật: To reveal/disclose a secret (often used in a lighter, more informal context than "tiết lộ").

  • Anh ấy đã bật mí bí mật công thức nấu ăn. (He revealed the secret cooking recipe.)

1. Secrret; cladestine
   • Văn kiện bí mật
     A secret document
   • Công tác bí mật
     Clandestine activity
   • Hầm bí mật
     A secret shelter, an underground
2. Secret
   • Giữ bí mật quốc gia
     To keep state secrets
   • Lộ bí mật quân sự
     To leak military secret
   • Khám phá bí mật của vũ trụ
     To explore the secrets of the universe