confidential

adjective

ˌkän-fə-ˈden(t)-shəl How to pronounce confidential (audio)
Definition of confidentialnext
as in private
not known or meant to be known by the general populace someone leaked confidential government information to the press

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of confidential The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential government deliberations. — ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026 Roy, in an interview with The Sacramento Bee, confirmed there were talks but didn’t say what the result of those discussions were, citing the confidential nature of negotiations. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026 Federal law also allows confidential substance use disorder treatment records to be shared in certain circumstances, such as with probation officers. — Alex Rosenblat — Calmatters, STAT, 15 Oct. 2026 The company warned that confidential material could already be circulating among Apple’s engineering teams. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for confidential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confidential
  1. private
  2. secret
  3. classified
  4. personal
  5. undisclosed
  6. esoteric
  7. intimate
Adjective
  • Debt acts as a ceiling on private investment, further stifling growth.
    — Masood Ahmed, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The spending was channelled through private contractor Chemonics.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of private
Adjective
  • The two go on to develop a secret, unsettling friendship, then something more.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The story picks up when 14-year-old Maeve and her older sister, Reg, start a secret phone romance with a boy from the local boat club who promises a way into the upper echelons of Cape Cod society.
    — Jack Dunn, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of secret
Adjective
  • The investigation resulted in a 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered classified records, and a federal indictment in Florida charged Trump with dozens of felony counts.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The investigation resulted in a dramatic 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered classified records and later produced an indictment in federal court in Florida charging Trump with dozens of felony counts.
    — Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of classified
Adjective
  • One is that with the noise in the tank, the crew will have to use the sort of personal helmet microphones as used by helicopter pilots.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
  • More broadly, the season moved away from formulaic dressing toward a more individual, instinctive approach to style, where contrasting references and personal expression take precedence over a single aesthetic.
    — Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of personal
Adjective
  • Its top three customers (the third is undisclosed) generate 72% of its revenue in Q2, the company said.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The work covers system development, demonstration, and integration efforts for an F-35 variant configured for an undisclosed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customer.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of undisclosed
Adjective
  • There’s as much effort gone into the food as there is the drinks menu, and the esoteric array of tropical flavors straddles both impressively.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Created in the 17th century, Japan’s Fujiko faith fuses Shinto and esoteric Buddhism in its reverence for Mount Fuji, the country’s highest peak.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of esoteric
Adjective
  • Dyrholm, whose credits include Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winner In a Better World, Magnus von Horn’s The Girl With The Needle and Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair, will play Linda, an intimacy coordinator who struggles to form intimate connections.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
  • So these are a class of fungi that form a very intimate association with the vast majority of plants.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of intimate

Browse Nearby Words

confident
confidential
confidentiality
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Cite this Entry

“Confidential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confidential. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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