Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality or state of being secretive; a tendency to conceal one's thoughts, feelings, intentions, or actions from others. It implies a deliberate lack of openness or transparency.
   • The trait of keeping things secret. This can refer to a habitual preference for privacy or a specific behavior of withholding information.

Usage

• General Use: Describes a personal characteristic or habitual behavior of an individual, group, or organization.
• Contexts: Often used in discussions about personality, behavior, communication styles, organizational culture, or politics.
• Connotation: Can be neutral, suggesting a desire for privacy, or negative, suggesting deceit, evasiveness, or a lack of trust.

Examples

• Noun:
  • Her secretiveness about her past made her colleagues suspicious.
  • The company's secretiveness regarding its financial data worried investors.
  • While some value privacy, his secretiveness crossed into dishonesty.

Advanced Usage

• Psychological/Behavioral Trait: In psychology, "secretiveness" can be analyzed as a component of personality, sometimes linked to introversion, distrust, or manipulative tendencies.
  • The therapist noted a pattern of secretiveness that was hindering the patient's relationships.
• Institutions and Governments: Used to criticize a lack of public accountability or transparency.
  • The administration was criticized for its secretiveness in handling the crisis.

Variants and Related Words

• Secretive (adj): Inclined to keep secrets or to be silent about one's affairs.
  • He was very secretive about his new project.
• Secrecy (n): The action of keeping something secret or the state of being kept secret. (Focuses more on the act or condition than the personal trait).
  • The plans were shrouded in secrecy.

Synonyms

• Reticence: Often a more neutral term for reluctance to speak freely.
• Taciturnity: Reserved in speech; saying little.
• Furtiveness: Suggestive of guilty nervousness or stealth.
• Closeness: Informal term for being secretive or uncommunicative.
• Evasion: The act of avoiding something, often by being secretive or unclear.

Antonyms

• Openness: Lack of restriction; accessibility.
• Candor: The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.
• Transparency: Operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed.
• Communicativeness: Willingness to impart information.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• To be tight-lipped: To be unwilling to speak; secretive.
  • She remained tight-lipped about the meeting's details.
• To play one's cards close to one's chest: To be very secretive about one's plans or intentions.
  • He's playing his cards close to his chest regarding the negotiation strategy.

Noun

1. the trait of keeping things secret
2. characterized by a lack of openness (especially about one's actions or purposes)