hush-hush

adjective

ˈhəsh-ˌhəsh How to pronounce hush-hush (audio)
Definition of hush-hushnext
1
as in confidential
not known or meant to be known by the general populace the reporter suspected there was a hush-hush reason why the company agreed to the deal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others top-echelon diplomats met in a hush-hush conference in a last-ditch effort to head off an international crisis

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 hush-hush Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston had been together for five years and engaged for three of them before the pair tied the knot in a hush-hush ceremony in 2015. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 2 July 2026 And now, Swift’s fans are set to descend on the city, accompanied by hordes of media who until recently had little to no concrete information about the hush-hush affair. — Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 1 July 2026 Jean’s Beach at the Old Stove Pub The hush-hush purchase of the Old Stove Pub by Max Chodorow had everyone chattering for months. — Nancy Kane, Curbed, 25 June 2026 Residents try to keep this coastal gem hush-hush, but can't seem to keep the idyllic scenery, trendy shops, and great restaurants entirely under wraps. — Kira Turnbull, Travel + Leisure, 6 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for hush-hush
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hush-hush
  1. confidential
  2. clandestine
  3. secret
  4. undercover
  5. private
  6. covert
  7. underground
Adjective
  • Confidential sources Rahmer acknowledged in his testimony that there are limits to knowing who is a confidential informant or working for agencies outside the FBI.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
  • His case was also shared with the local district attorney, who has the authority to prosecute misuse of confidential governmental data, but the district attorney declined to pursue criminal charges, the audit said.
    — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of confidential
Adjective
  • Bridgers’ tour restricts phones, so the reader’s account had to stand in for the clandestine photo that might otherwise have accompanied the sighting.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The Soviet Union operated an extensive clandestine biological weapons program despite being a party to the Biological Weapons Convention.
    — Krutika Kuppalli, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of clandestine
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
  • Some of us live in Chicago and are well aware of the lore of the Mirage Tavern, a real bar that undercover reporters operated in the 1970s to expose corruption in the city.
    — Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Investigators also said Ellaboudy advised an undercover FBI confidential human source posing as a representative of a Houthi colonel.
    — Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • The dining room has 28 seats, a private event space holds 10, and the menu proposes just three Milanese and Lombardian dishes for each of the antipasti, primi, and secondi courses (four for dessert).
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Mercury in your 4th House quincunxes Saturn in your 9th, creating a mismatch between private realities and bigger plans involving travel, education, beliefs, or the future.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of private
Adjective
  • There has been serious buzz recently about the film series focused on the United States conducting covert actions against drug cartels.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Flashbacks to recent events reveal that the townspeople never let Hal find peace, and even firebombed his home, only for a grown-up Noah — Kerry’s son, and Zoe’s grandson — to save him and regenerate his skin using Zoe’s covert alien tech.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of covert
Adjective
  • The dehumanization of Black people represented by the persistence of Confederate iconography in mainstream culture became an underground signifier of the precariousness of the freedoms enshrined by the 14th Amendment.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Much has been written about the sprawling compounds of tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg, whose 1,400-acre Kauai property includes plans for a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter.
    — Megan Buerger, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of underground

Browse Nearby Words

hushes (up)
hush-hush
hushing
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Cite this Entry

“Hush-hush.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hush-hush. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

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