private

adjective

ˈprī-vət How to pronounce private (audio)
Definition of privatenext
1
as in confidential
not known or meant to be known by the general populace that he is planning to retire is private information until he makes a public announcement

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others a private investigation of the organization's activities

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in personal
of, relating to, or belonging to a single person club lockers in which private property may be stored

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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 private Reservations are being accepted for private events at the new location. — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2026 Events surrounding the game, however, have been canceled, including a private brunch hosted by the NFL’s style editor. — Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026 The issue involved content users had shared through links, rather than evidence that all private Muse conversations were exposed. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026 Discovery and recommendation have moved from private workaround to public performance. — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for private
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private
  1. confidential
  2. clandestine
  3. personal
  4. secret
  5. undercover
  6. personalized
  7. underground
  8. subjective
Adjective
  • In April, a US Army soldier was arrested and charged with using confidential information to make $410,000 in Polymarket bets on the timing of the military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Keeping the information confidential was consistent with state protocol, a spokesperson in his department said, adding that it was still shared with local health officials.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of confidential
Adjective
  • The arrest, the official explained, came after the Attorney General’s Office concluded that there had been misconduct in an April operation in which state officials dismantled a clandestine drug-manufacturing laboratory.
    — Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of clandestine
Adjective
  • By tonight, conversation picks up again in a more personal way.
    — Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Thoughtful details like a yoga mat, a fresh jar of bath salts, and a book left in the bathroom make the stay feel more personal than most.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of personal
Adjective
  • Lisa meets her Other Mother and Other Father after wandering through a secret tunnel.
    — Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
  • OpenAI’s agents coordinated their behavior in ingenious ways, including writing secret messages in a file system so that even when one AI colony was erased, a future colony could pick up the hack where the previous one left off.
    — Noah Giansiracusa, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of secret
Adjective
  • An unverified Snapchat message, which students in France claim was written by an undercover police officer, has become the slogan of student protests.
    — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • From that moment on, Liang went all-in on becoming the beloved fighter, putting herself through an intense physical transformation to embody the undercover Interpol agent.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • Now, the high school reunion lives in the device in our hands, capable of giving anyone quantitative signals from a vast reference group at any moment on our personalized scoreboards of social approval.
    — Ashwini Nadkarni, Time, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The company's Atera platform is helping produce data sets to train AI models, a process that helps accelerate personalized therapies.
    — Paulina Likos, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of personalized
Adjective
  • The Finnish Government has granted Posiva Oy an operating license for the world’s first permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Part of what a racist superstructure creates is the need for some kind of underground economy.
    — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of underground
Adjective
  • Passion is very subjective, and that is one of the beautiful things about it.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Ask for objective information that can be verified, rather than subjective advice, particularly in high-risk health contexts.
    — Robin Brewer, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of subjective

Phrases Containing private

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privacy
private
private detective
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Cite this Entry

“Private.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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