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secretive

secretive

71 4.9
A person who does not tell others about their plans or feelings
  • adjective
  • /ˈsiːkrətɪv/
translation icon : reservado
  • She remained secretive about her personal life, rarely discussing her relationships.
  • very secretive
  • highly secretive
  • a secretive nature

They're very secretive people like my mom and dad are.

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Examples

  • By contrast, Massachusetts firms were highly secretive and self-contained, thus reducing inter-company interactions.

    Academic text (2011)
  • He was very secretive about his life.

  • So who is in this secretive grand jury room?

  • Oh, right now we're in a secretive government building.

  • Now that sounds like an incredibly secretive and exciting job to have, and it really is.

  • Besides, you should understand why I was so secretive.

  • Her father was quite secretive, and if there were relatives, he had never mentioned them.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • One can actually get angry at the writers of the past for being so secretive.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Eventually, performances of the Ghost Dance became more secretive, unannounced, and unnamed.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The Human Hibernation Project... was one of the army's most ambitious experiments... and one of its most secretive.

Synonyms

covert
vssecretive
117 6.8

Done secretly to avoid being seen or known

describes a personal habit of not sharing rather than hidden acts
discreet
vssecretive
115 5.8

Careful about what you say and do to avoid upsetting people or drawing attention

focuses on withholding information and secrecy rather than mere prudence
close
vssecretive
42 7.0

Not willing to tell others about something

is a personal habit of not revealing rather than formal guarding
evasive
vssecretive
25 7.3

Not giving a direct answer to hide the truth or avoid commitment

prefers to keep things private more generally, not only dodge answers
tight-lipped
vssecretive
18 5.7

Not willing to speak or give information

keeps matters hidden overall, not only by saying little
reticent
vssecretive
17 7.9

Not willing to talk about thoughts or feelings easily

hides information or actions generally rather than only inner feelings
cagey
vssecretive
15 7.5

Careful not to give away information or show their plans

hides facts without the same deliberate cautious cleverness
hush-hush
vssecretive
  • Informal
13 7.5

People keep it secret from most others to avoid being noticed

applies to a person's habit of not revealing information rather than topics
closemouthed
vssecretive
1 7.5

Not willing to talk or share information

keeps things private in general, not only by staying silent
tightlipped
vssecretive
7.1

Not willing to talk or answer questions

keeps information back more broadly, beyond just quiet speech
closelipped
vssecretive
8.3

Not willing to tell people private things

is a wider tendency to not reveal information beyond private topics

Antonyms

702 1.0

Willing to consider new ideas

43 3.5

Very obvious and easy to see or understand

How Secretive

tight-lipped
18 5.7
secretive
71 4.9
reserved
3.7
private
2.2

Surface Forms

secretive positive
cleverer comparative
secretest superlative

Morphology

secretive = secret (transparent) = secret + ive

Meaning is directly derived from 'secret' + the adjectival suffix '-ive', so learners can infer 'inclined to keep things secret'.

Etymology

Secretive comes from secret, which comes from an old Latin word meaning 'separate' and is the same idea behind the common word separate. So a secretive person keeps things 'apart' and does not tell others.