1
general::
noun sth that must not be known by others ADJ. big, great | little | closely guarded, well-kept a charming museum that is one of the city's best-kept secrets (= that not many people know about) | hidden, inner, innermost, intimate That evening she had revealed many of her innermost secrets. | open Their affair is an open secret. | dark, guilty, shameful, terrible | commercial, family, military, official, state, trade VERB + SECRET have | guard, keep Can you keep a secret? | betray, divulge, let sb in on/into, reveal, tell sb She let us into her secret?she'd got engaged. | find out, uncover SECRET + VERB be/get out How did the secret get out? PREP. in ~ The film stars were married in secret to avoid publicity. | ~ about There was some secret about the source of his wealth. | ~ from I have no secrets from you. PHRASES make no secret of the fact that … , make a secret of sth He refuses to make any secret of his political allegiances. only/best way of doing/achieving sth VERB + SECRET reveal, tell sb PREP. ~ behind She revealed the secret behind her extraordinary success. | ~ of the secrets of staying healthy PHRASES the secret of (sb's) success, adj. VERBS be | remain, stay | keep sth ADV. highly, top, very a top secret meeting | absolutely, entirely | more or less | formerly, hitherto, previously revealing the text of the hitherto secret treaty PREP. from They managed to keep the party more or less secret from Christine.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
2
general::
secret
known about by only a few people, who have agreed not to tell anyone else:
• a secret meeting place • The details of the proposal must remain secret.
confidential
used about information, especially in business or government, that is secret and not intended to be shown or told to other people:
• a highly confidential report • Employees’ personal details are treated as strictly confidential.
classified
used about information that the government has ordered to be kept secret from most people:
• He was accused of passing on classified information to the Russians in the 1950s.
sensitive
used about information that is kept secret because there would be problems if the wrong people knew it:
• A teenager managed to hack into sensitive US Air Force files.
covert
[ only before noun ] used about things that are done secretly, especially by a government or official organization:
• a CIA covert operation
undercover
[ usually before noun ] used about things that are done secretly by the police in order to catch criminals or find out information:
• Detectives arrested the suspect after a five-day undercover operation.
underground
an underground organization or newspaper is one that operates or is produced secretly and opposes the government:
• Her father was a member of the underground resistance movement in France during World War II.
clandestine
secret and often illegal or immoral:
• clandestine meetings • his involvement in a clandestine operation to sell arms to Iran • a clandestine love affair
hush-hush
informal used about information or activities that are kept officially secret:
• He was put in charge of some hush-hush military project. • I’ve no idea what he does – it’s all very hush-hush.
COLLOCATIONS CHECK
confidential
information/document/report/letter/inquiry
classified
information/document/material
sensitive
information/files
covert
operation/support/activities/war/aid
undercover
agent/operation/investigation/work
underground
organization/newspaper/economy
clandestine
meeting/operation/organization/network
hush-hush
research/project/experiment
Longman-Thesaurus
5
general::
secret
verbs
have a secret
• We have no secrets from each other.
know a secret
(= about someone else )
• You can tell Tom that I know his secret.
keep a secret
(= not tell it to anyone )
• Can you keep a secret?
tell somebody a secret
• Shall I tell you a secret?
let somebody in on a secret
(= tell them a secret )
• Frank let me in on the secret.
reveal/divulge a secret
formal (= tell it to someone )
• He was accused of revealing state secrets.
give away a secret
(= tell it to someone carelessly or by mistake )
• I had to be careful not to give away any secrets.
share a secret
(= tell it to someone because you trust them )
• I trusted Alexander, so I decided to share my secret with him.
discover/find out a secret
• He was afraid that someone would discover his secret.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + secret
a big secret
(= an important secret or one that very few people know )
• The event was supposed to be a big secret, but everyone knew about it.
a little secret
(= a personal secret that very few people know )
• You must promise me that this will be our little secret.
a closely guarded/well-kept secret
(= a secret that few people are allowed to know )
• The recipe is a closely guarded secret.
an open secret
(= something that a lot of people know, but do not talk about because it is supposed to be a secret )
• It was an open secret that he was having an affair.
a dark/terrible secret
(= a secret about something bad )
• I’m sure every family has a few dark secrets.
a dirty secret
(= a shameful secret )
• The exclusion of black people from the film industry is one of Hollywood’s dirty little secrets.
a guilty secret
(= a secret that someone feels guilty about )
• He had finally discovered Jo’s guilty secret.
sb’s innermost secrets
(= very private or personal secrets )
• She wasn’t confident enough to share her innermost secrets with him.
a family secret
• Their normally strong relationship is threatened when he has to reveal a family secret.
a state/official secret
(= a government secret )
• He was accused of passing on state secrets to a foreign power.
a trade secret
(= a company or business secret )
• They must not betray their employer 's trust, for instance by giving away trade secrets.
military secrets
• He was sent to prison for five years in 1933 for selling military secrets to Germany.
COMMON ERRORS
>>> Do not say 'say a secret' or 'say your secrets' . Say tell somebody a secret or tell somebody your secrets .
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