secret

Adjective

• the next to highest level of official classification for documents

• having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
  • mysterious symbols
    
  • the mystical style of Blake
    
  • occult lore
    
  • the secret learning of the ancients
    

• indulging only covertly
  • a secret alcoholic
    

• (of information) given in confidence or in secret
  • this arrangement must be kept confidential
    
  • their secret communications
    

• hidden from general view or use
  • a privy place to rest and think
    
  • a secluded romantic spot
    
  • a secret garden
    

• designed to elude detection
  • a hidden room or place of concealment such as a priest hole
    
  • a secret passage
    
  • the secret compartment in the desk
    

• not expressed
  • secret (or private) thoughts
    

• communicated covertly
  • their secret signal was a wink
    
  • secret messages
    

• not openly made known
  • a secret marriage
    
  • a secret bride
    

• conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
  • clandestine intelligence operations
    
  • cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines
    
  • hole-and-corner intrigue
    
  • secret missions
    
  • a secret agent
    
  • secret sales of arms
    
  • surreptitious mobilization of troops
    
  • an undercover investigation
    
  • underground resistance
    

• not open or public; kept private or not revealed
  • a secret formula
    
  • secret ingredients
    
  • secret talks
    

Noun

• something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
  • how it got out is a mystery
    
  • it remains one of nature's secrets
    

• information known only to a special group
  • the secret of Cajun cooking
    

• something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
  • the combination to the safe was a secret
    
  • he tried to keep his drinking a secret
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  mysterious , mystic , mystical , occult , orphic , confidential , privy , secluded , hidden , private , unavowed , clandestine , cloak-and-dagger , hole-and-corner(a) , hugger-mugger , hush-hush , surreptitious , undercover , underground , mystery , enigma , closed book , arcanum