tiết lậu
Definition
- Verb:
- To leak (information): To disclose secret or confidential information to unauthorized parties, often deliberately and in a damaging way. This is the primary and most common meaning.
- To divulge: To make private or sensitive information known.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Một nhân viên đã tiết lậu thông tin khách hàng ra bên ngoài. (An employee leaked customer information to the outside.)
- Việc tiết lậu bí mật quân sự là một tội nghiêm trọng. (Leaking military secrets is a serious crime.)
- Họ cáo buộc phóng viên này tiết lậu nguồn tin mật. (They accused this reporter of divulging confidential sources.)
Advanced Usage
- This verb is almost exclusively used in formal or serious contexts, particularly related to state, corporate, or official secrets. It carries a strong negative connotation of betrayal or negligence.
Variants and Related Words
- Tiết lộ (v): To reveal, to disclose. This is a more general and commonly used synonym. While "tiết lậu" implies a harmful or unauthorized leak, "tiết lộ" can be neutral or even positive (e.g., revealing a surprise).
- Lộ thông tin (v phrase): To have information exposed.
- Rò rỉ thông tin (v phrase): To have an information leak (often implies an accidental or systemic flaw).
Synonyms
- Leak: To allow secret information to become known.
- Divulge: To make private or secret information known.
- Disclose: To make secret or new information known (can be formal and neutral).
Related Idioms
- There are no common idioms specifically using "tiết lậu." The concept is typically expressed directly.
Note on Usage
"Tiết lậu" is considered a direct synonym of "tiết lộ" in many dictionaries, but in practical, modern usage, "tiết lậu" specifically emphasizes the unauthorized and damaging disclosure of secrets, often in legal, governmental, or corporate contexts. "Tiết lộ" is the broader, more frequently used term.