PRIVATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does private mean? 

• PRIVATE (noun)
  The noun PRIVATE has 1 sense:

1. an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines

  Familiarity information: PRIVATE used as a noun is very rare.

• PRIVATE (adjective)
  The adjective PRIVATE has 4 senses:

1. confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy

2. concerning things deeply private and personal

3. concerning one person exclusively

4. not expressed

  Familiarity information: PRIVATE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRIVATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

buck private; common soldier; private

Context example:

our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value

Hypernyms ("private" is a kind of...):

enlisted man (a male enlisted person in the armed forces)

• PRIVATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy

Context example:

public figures struggle to maintain a private life

Similar:

toffee-nosed (snobbish; pretentiously superior)

head-to-head; tete-a-tete (involving two persons; intimately private)

semiprivate (confined to a small number of hospital patients)

privy; secluded; secret (hidden from general view or use)

one-on-one (directly between two individuals)

backstage; offstage (concealed from public view or attention)

nonpublic (not invested with or related to prominent position or status etc.)

insular (suggestive of the isolated life of an island)

confidential (entrusted with private information and the confidence of another)

confidential; secret ((of information) given in confidence or in secret)

closed-door (not open to the public)

close (confined to specific persons)

cloistered; reclusive; secluded; sequestered (providing privacy or seclusion)

clannish; cliquish; clubby; snobbish; snobby (befitting or characteristic of those who incline to social exclusiveness and who rebuff the advances of people considered inferior)

Also:

personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)

esoteric (confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle)

Antonym:

public (not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole)

Derivation:

privateness (the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Concerning things deeply private and personal

Synonyms:

intimate; private

Context example:

private family matters

Similar:

personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)

Derivation:

privateness (the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others)

privateness (the condition of being concealed or hidden)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Concerning one person exclusively

Synonyms:

individual; private

Context example:

each room has a private bath

Similar:

personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not expressed

Synonyms:

private; secret

Context example:

secret (or private) thoughts

Similar:

inward (relating to or existing in the mind or thoughts)

Derivation:

privateness (the condition of being concealed or hidden)

 Context examples 

“She thinks herself wrong, then, for having consented to a private engagement?”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He did not have any left for private affairs.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I am a private detective, and I am endeavouring to explain his disappearance.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was only for the private use of the family.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Private time together after the new moon would turn out to be divine.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

SpaceX is a private company that is expected to begin transporting U.S. astronauts into space next year.

(SpaceX Completes Successful Rocket Launch, VOA News)

This is a ladies' club, and we wish to be private and proper.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

This includes studies where an investigator obtains identifiable private information or data through the intervention or interaction with the individual.

(Clinical Trial Subject, NCI Thesaurus)

Comprised of nine academic and public institutions and private organizations.

(Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, NCI Thesaurus)

The men engaged in regular activities during the day and then returned to their private room each evening.

(Cool temperature alters human fat and metabolism, NIH)