SECRECY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does secrecy mean? 

• SECRECY (noun)
  The noun SECRECY has 2 senses:

1. the trait of keeping things secret

2. the condition of being concealed or hidden

  Familiarity information: SECRECY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SECRECY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The trait of keeping things secret

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

secrecy; secretiveness; silence

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

uncommunicativeness (the trait of being uncommunicative)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "secrecy"):

mum (secrecy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The condition of being concealed or hidden

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

concealment; privacy; privateness; secrecy

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

isolation (a state of separation between persons or groups)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "secrecy"):

covertness; hiddenness (the state of being covert and hidden)

bosom (the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept)

confidentiality (the state of being secret)

hiding (the state of being hidden)

 Context examples 

He has certain qualities very largely developed; selfishness, secrecy, and purpose.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

If he had been anxious for secrecy, he would not have left the paper while I was by; but he rather pushed it towards me than towards you.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Elizabeth told her the motives of her secrecy.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Nothing in my opinion has ever passed to justify doubt; no secrecy has been attempted; all has been uniformly open and unreserved.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Secrecy could not have been more desirable for Mrs. Rushworth's credit than he felt it for his own.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"Girls, where are you going?" asked Amy, coming into their room one Saturday afternoon, and finding them getting ready to go out with an air of secrecy which excited her curiosity.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Then I must begin, said he, by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance.

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

Concerning this there had been some secrecy, which confirmed the idea that she had gone with the intention of throwing someone off her track.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Place her in safety and comfort: shelter her degradation with secrecy, and leave her.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They saw him marching out of camp, but they did not see the instant and terrible transformation which took place as soon as he was within the secrecy of the forest.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)