worst-kept secret
2
3.4
- noun
- Informal
:
secreto peor guardado
- The supposed upcoming transfer, which would end Cavendish's term at Sky one year before the end of his contract, is second only in the worst-kept secret competition to Cav's move to Sky last fall.
- the worst-kept secret in Washington
It was the worst kept secret in astronomy at the time because pretty much every single telescope just dropped what it was doing to turn and observe the aftermath.
- It was the worst kept secret in astronomy at the time because pretty much every single telescope just dropped what it was doing to turn and observe the aftermath.
Examples
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Nike is neither confirming nor denying the rumor, meaning McIlroy's deal with Nike is either the worst-kept secret in golf history or one of the biggest rumor-mill hoaxes of all time.
Blog text (27) -
It's the worst-kept secret in London.
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The Blue Moon Races are the worst-kept secret of all time.
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It's reaching that point where we start calling it one of the worst-kept secrets on the Internet.
Blog text (33) -
It's the worst-kept secret him and the mayor can't stand each other.
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It's like the worst-kept secret of the screener corps.
Blog text (3) -
It was the worst kept secret in astronomy at the time because pretty much every single telescope just dropped what it was doing to turn and observe the aftermath.
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It was also, as the NBC commentator pointed out, "the world's worst-kept secret," but who cares when the secret is THIS GOOD?
Blog text (1) -
I must have worked for some exceptional organizations because getting a project budget internally was never a problem, and in the NGO culture that I knew, salaries were the worst kept secret in the organization—top to bottom (mainly due to water cooler transparency).
Blog text (24) -
The ties between the CPP and its front organizations are a worst-kept secret in Philippine history.
Synonyms
6
4.0
Something people try to hide but many already know
How Secret
Surface Forms
Morphology
worst-kept + secret
The meaning 'a fact that is supposed to be secret but is actually widely known' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'worst' (superlative), 'kept' (maintained/hidden), and 'secret' — i.e. the secret that is kept most poorly. This follows a common adjective + past-participle composition pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows the individual words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Worst-kept secret paints a picture of a secret people try to hide but keep so badly it is the worst kept of all. That's why it means 'a fact that should be secret but is actually widely known'.