secretive

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsikrətɪv/ UK /ˈsiːkrətɪv/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
inclined to conceal one's feelings, intentions, or activities

He was secretive about where he had spent the weekend.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · inclined to conceal one's... reticent reserved close guardedtight-lippedcagey

Opposites

open frank candid forthcoming

Word family

Derived forms secretivelysecretiveness

Related forms secret secrete secrecy

Etymology

Mid-19th century, from 'secret' (or 'secrete') + '-ive'; 'secret' is from Latin 'secretus' ('set apart, hidden'), from 'secernere' ('to separate').

secretus Latin secernere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# secretive

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

## Meanings
1. inclined to conceal one's feelings, intentions, or activities

## Examples
- He was secretive about where he had spent the weekend.

## Synonyms
- reticent
- reserved
- close
- guarded
- tight-lipped
- cagey

## Antonyms
- open
- frank
- candid
- forthcoming

## Derived Forms
- secretively
- secretiveness

## Related Forms
- secret
- secrete
- secrecy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: secretus
- Root: secernere

## Etymology
Mid-19th century, from 'secret' (or 'secrete') + '-ive'; 'secret' is from Latin 'secretus' ('set apart, hidden'), from 'secernere' ('to separate').

## AI Etymology
Secretive is a mid-19th century, from 'secret' (or 'secrete') + '-ive'; 'secret' is from Latin 'secretus' ('set apart, hidden'), from 'secernere' ('to separate'). The historical chain includes Latin secretus and Latin secernere. The quoted older senses, "secret", "secrete", "-ive", "secretus", and "set apart, hidden", supply the semantic anchors for secretive. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word secretive carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "inclined to conceal one's feelings, intentions, or activities". English derivatives include secretively and secretiveness; related English forms include secret, secrete, and secrecy. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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