top secret
55
4.2
- adjective
- /tɑp ˈsiːkrɪt/
- Formal
:
ultrasecreto
- Our community here was formed as part of a top secret coalition of nations from both East and West.
- top secret information
- top secret clearance
- top secret files
And I was to get access to top secret information for this job.
- And I was to get access to top secret information for this job.
- Of course we didn't know it, but SOG needed communicators with Top Secret clearance to run the Radio teletype.
- We are the top secret communications provider for, for not only the Defense Department, but for the, but for the nation writ large.
- So it says as as you pointed out, Ryan, it says top secret magic eyes only on the top like it's stamped on.
Examples
-
I am able to reveal this to you now, but before the war ended, it was top secret.
Fiction book (1998) -
Working on a top secret research mission into weather conditions, code name The Prospero Project, when Peel died.
Fiction book (1998) -
And I was to get access to top secret information for this job.
-
The job I have for you is top secret.
-
Until they got results, the project was to be kept top secret.
Fiction book (1992) -
"Please keep this top secret," the police chief said.
Fiction book (1998) -
We got top secret orders to blend in with the patients.
-
The Omnidroid 9000 is a top secret prototype battle robot.
-
The agency only shares top secret information with approved personnel.
-
He received top secret documents that outlined the government's plans.
Synonyms
65
5.9
Information that only a very small number of people are allowed to know
13
7.5
People keep it secret from most others to avoid being noticed
3
7.4
Very private and known by only a few people
1
7.4
Kept secret and shown only to people with permission
Kept very secret so almost no one knows about it
Antonyms
How Secret
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'highly confidential; classified at the highest level' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'top' (highest, foremost) with 'secret' (confidential). This modifier+adjective composition is cross-linguistically common and follows a straightforward intensifying pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Top secret comes from the practice of marking the most secret papers with the words Top and Secret and keeping them locked away. So, it now means information that is 'very secret' or 'kept only for a few people'.