best-kept secret
8
4.5
- noun
- /bɛst kɛpt ˈsiːkrɪt/
:
mejor secreto
- This small bakery is considered the best-kept secret in town for its delicious pastries.
for keeping the best kept secret,
- for keeping the best kept secret,
Examples
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The African collections of the National Museum of Ireland are one of its best-kept secrets.
Academic text (1995) -
I have thought that Berlin has been the best-kept secret in Europe.
Academic text (1992) -
Maybe some identities are best kept secret.
-
All the truly important nominations of life are best kept secret.
Fiction book (1992) -
And I think one of the best kept secrets of the financial industry is just how simple getting started investing is.
-
PLU is the best kept secret to the outside world, man.
-
The Army is the best-kept secret in the world, Judy.
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Many of us are very active in research, publishing, and presenting, yet it remains a well-kept secret within the library walls.
Academic text (2015) -
Traveling distances are not great; it's far from the maddening crowd, and it's England's best kept secret.
Academic text (1999) -
Nederland is one of Colorado's best-kept secrets, sitting just 17 miles west of Boulder.
Blog text (22)
Synonyms
A place or fact known only by people who live nearby
Antonyms
How Secret
8
4.5
14
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
best-kept + secret
The phrase is compositionally built from 'best-kept' (most carefully kept/hidden) + 'secret' (something not widely known), so the meaning 'particularly well-concealed or known to only a few' is directly inferable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows 'best', 'keep/kept', and 'secret' can readily derive this sense, and similar constructions exist in many languages, supporting straightforward transparency.
Etymology
Best-kept secret comes from the simple image of a very good thing that people carefully kept hidden as a secret. Because it is the 'best' kept, only a few people know about it, so today the phrase means something very good or valuable that is not well known.