under wraps
28
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
oculto
- After keeping details under wraps, they announced the name, The Ordinary, three months ago.
- keep under wraps
And the thing that was so hard was keeping it under wraps from everyone else.
- And the thing that was so hard was keeping it under wraps from everyone else.
- I, I thought I had had this under wraps and here I am today.
- Why is it that you want to keep that under wraps?
- New house we've been which is a but been very careful about keeping that under wraps.
- But we're really scolded by society to keep the stuff under wraps because it's not part of the cultural conversation.
- Yeah, Next year's plans, we'll keep them sort of under wraps, but it's going to involve going to the ends of the Earth, literally.
- This was still kept under wraps so other than the people working in the house and maybe Agatha's friends, but I kind of doubt it based on her being such a private person.
Examples
-
Like so many other pieces of bad news, this was kept under wraps until after the election.
Blog text (7) -
We need to keep this project under wraps until the official announcement next month.
-
And the thing that was so hard was keeping it under wraps from everyone else.
-
And we want to keep them under wraps.
-
We have to keep this under wraps for a while.
-
We gotta keep this under wraps until we figure it out.
-
We're keeping that under wraps until the competition.
-
Details are still under wraps
-
I got to tell you, Cat, this is gonna be pretty hard to keep under wraps.
-
But it's just better to keep it under wraps, you know, the past being what it is.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
∞
2.0
Hidden so other people do not know about it
261
1.4
In a way that other people do not know
205
5.3
Not shared with others because it should be secret
174
3.2
In a way not shared with other people
153
5.7
Hidden and done secretly to avoid being found by authorities
125
1.1
A thing that is not easily seen or found
117
6.8
Done secretly to avoid being seen or known
112
4.1
In private and not open to the public
56
2.5
In a way other people do not know
40
9.9
In secret so other people do not know
40
8.2
Kept secret because it is illegal or not allowed
37
5.8
Kept secret and not told to other people
17
6.9
In a secret way so other people do not know
13
7.5
People keep it secret from most others to avoid being noticed
10
4.4
In a private way so no one else knows
7
8.5
Done secretly because people would disapprove
5
3.7
Hidden so people cannot see it
4
8.0
In a secret way to avoid being seen or found
4
7.7
Hidden and hard to understand because it is secret
3
7.4
Very private and known by only a few people
1
7.5
People in power keep it secret to hide a problem
1
6.7
Hidden from users and working behind the scenes
1
7.2
Kept secret from the public, often about meetings or plans
1
6.1
In a quiet way that hides what you do or think
1
8.6
In secret and quietly so nobody finds out
In secret so only a few people know
Kept secret and not told to other people
Kept secret on purpose so people do not know about it
Not told to others until a set time or event
Antonyms
How Secret
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'kept secret or concealed' is directly inferable from 'under' (beneath/in a state) + 'wraps' (coverings); something kept under coverings implies hidden or not revealed. This compositional image is cross-linguistically common and follows a straightforward metaphor, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to understand it.
Etymology
Under wraps comes from the simple image of putting something under cloth or paper so it cannot be seen, with the thing literally under the wraps. That's why the phrase now means 'kept secret' or hidden from people.