confidential

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌkɑnfɪˈdɛnʃəl/ UK /ˌkɒnfɪˈdɛnʃəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
intended to be kept secret or private

The lawyer marked the file as strictly confidential.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · intended to be kept secret... secret private classified privileged restricted intimate

Opposites

public open disclosed

Word family

Derived forms confidentiallyconfidentiality

Related forms confide confidence confidant

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

confidential information
information that is meant to remain private and not be disclosed

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From confidence + -ial. Confidence derives from Latin confidentia, from confidere ('to trust fully'), from com- (intensive) + fidere ('to trust').

confidentia Latin fidere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# confidential

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌkɑnfɪˈdɛnʃəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌkɒnfɪˈdɛnʃəl/

## Meanings
1. intended to be kept secret or private

## Examples
- The lawyer marked the file as strictly confidential.

## Synonyms
- secret
- private
- classified
- privileged
- restricted
- intimate

## Antonyms
- public
- open
- disclosed

## Derived Forms
- confidentially
- confidentiality

## Related Forms
- confide
- confidence
- confidant

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: confidentia
- Root: fidere

## Etymology
From confidence + -ial. Confidence derives from Latin confidentia, from confidere ('to trust fully'), from com- (intensive) + fidere ('to trust').

## AI Etymology
Confidential is from confidence + -ial. Confidence derives from Latin confidentia, from confidere ('to trust fully'), from com- (intensive) + fidere ('to trust'). Important recorded forms include confidentia (Latin) and fidere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers intended to be kept secret or private. The wider family includes derived forms such as confidentially and confidentiality and related words such as confide, confidence, and confidant.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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