Meanings
- not comparableMore private than usual accommodations, but not fully private; used especially of a hospital room that is shared by two patients in contradistinction to a ward containing many patients.
We lived on one of only six blocks in the entire neighborhood in Williamsburg that had semiprivate houses.
2019, Abby Chava Stein, Becoming Eve, Seal Press, page 372 more examples
Since there were few semiprivate sociopetal spaces or other facilities that could promote the formation of a social order, the informal social networks found in lower class neighborhoods didn’t develop.
1978, Paul A[llan] Bell, Jeffrey D[avid] Fisher, Ross J[ohn] Loomis, “Environmental Solutions to Urban Problems”, in Environmental Psychology, Philadelphia, Pa.; London; Toronto, Ont.: W[alter] B[urns] Saunders Company, →ISBN, chapter 8 (The City), page 304Part of a growing market known as semiprivate aviation, the carrier offers scheduled book-by-the-seat flights on board charter aircraft.
2025 October 17, Hannah Towey, “Why Semi-Private Flying Is Taking Off”, in Condé Nast Traveler
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveconfined to a small number of hospital patients
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-
- Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
- Latinsēmi-
- Englishsemi-
- Englishprivate
- Englishsemiprivate
Cite this entry
semiprivate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiprivate
“semiprivate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiprivate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semiprivate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semiprivate.
Source: semiprivate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.