secretive

comparative more secretive · superlative most secretive

1. Having an inclination to secrecy.

   Why are you acting all secretive? What are you hiding?

   3 more examples

   She's a secretive girl, not giving away much about her life.

   Sitting back on a bench in the sunshine, Tom and I began to catch up with each other while the girls arranged their surprises at the remotest picnic table in the lay-by. Genial lorry drivers, munching wurst high in their cabs, looking down on their secretive toing and froing with interest.

   1987, Christina Hardyment, “Picking up Gold and Silver”, in Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe, Book Club edition, New York, N.Y.: The Atlantic Monthly Press, →OCLC, page 100

   Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

   2025 July 17, Oliver Holmes, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2025

   Synonyms: furtive, sly

1. not comparableRelating to secretion.