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Glite Dictionary
cover-up

cover-up

151 5.5
An attempt to hide a crime or scandal from the public
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌvərˌʌp/
  • Literature
: encubrimiento
  • The government conducted a major cover-up to hide the details of the scandal.
  • attempt at a cover-up
  • contributions to the cover-up
  • a massive cover-up

It's the most brazen cover up I've ever seen.

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Examples

  • This has shades of the Nixon White House that often it's the cover up that's worse than the initial crime itself.

  • Long-time observers of Washington politics know a full-fledged cover-up is only attempted by the White House as a last resort.

    Alene B. Duerk: The First Woman Admiral (2020)

  • And were there crimes committed in the cover up of his problems?

    Megyn Kelly

  • So you have to remember with every single one of these cover ups, the people in power want to stay in power.

  • Witness the greatest cover-up in human history.

    The Da Vinci Code (2006)

  • All of them were involved in the cover-up.

    National Champions (2021)

  • The reason for this strategic cover-up was political.

    Academic text (2017)

  • It's the most brazen cover up I've ever seen.

    H3 Podcast

  • But the fact that Damon Williams is involved shows me that the cover up is being orchestrated from on high.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • The Benghazi situation and subsequent cover-up is a summary of the entire Obama Administration.

    Blog text (4)

Synonyms

smoke and mirrors
vscover-up
  • Informal
24 7.4

Actions that hide the truth by making things look better

focuses on stopping disclosure of scandal facts rather than merely distracting attention
smokescreen
vscover-up
12 7.1

An action or statement that hides the real reason behind something

aims specifically to prevent public learning about a scandal or crime
conspiracy of silence
vscover-up
  • Literature
4 8.1

An agreement to stay silent to hide something wrong

is an organized effort to prevent public discovery rather than a private silence pact
concealment
vscover-up
4 5.0

Keeping something hidden or secret

is a targeted attempt to stop public discovery of scandalous or criminal information
misprision
vscover-up
  • Formal
1 9.9

A deliberate failure to tell the police about a crime

is a public attempt to stop people discovering scandal or crime information
concealing
vscover-up
1 5.3

An act of hiding something so people do not know about it

focuses on preventing public exposure of scandal or crime rather than general secrecy

Antonyms

disclosure
209 4.1

Making secret or new information known to others

exposure
96 3.9

Making a secret or hidden thing known to people

How Hidden

cover-up
  • Literature
151 5.5
whitewash
8 6.8
suppression
64 6.1

Surface Forms

cover-up singular
cover-ups plural

Morphology

cover-up = cover (semi-transparent) = up + cover

The meaning is built from 'cover' + 'up', but the specific sense of concealing wrongdoing is somewhat idiomatic rather than fully literal. [Postprocessing: moved 'up' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word cover-up comes from the parts cover ('to put something over') and up ('completely'), giving the clear image of putting something over so it cannot be seen. That's why a cover-up means an attempt to hide information about a crime or scandal from the public.