MEANING
Something that is supposed to be secret but is already widely known.
Use it for
describing confidential information many people know; showing a mismatch between secrecy and common knowledge; naming a fact that is not really hidden; describing an unofficially known relationship or planNames the contradiction between supposed confidentiality and widespread knowledge. Writing functions: Publicly known secrecy.
Words that belong together
- an open secret that
- become an open secret
On the page
Their plan to leave the company was an open secret long before the announcement.
The identity of the donor had become an open secret in the town.
Word forms
- Base
- open secret
Usage notes
Count noun: open secret/open secrets; often singular in it is an open secret that.... The article is grammatical, not part of the canonical headword. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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