top secret

adjective

Definition of top secretnext
as in confidential
kept completely hidden from the public by high government officials top secret documents The mission is top secret.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 top secret The planning and details of the meeting were supposed to be kept top secret because of its highly sensitive nature. — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2026 Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding was so top secret that even one of their celebrity guests, Pat McAfee, initially thought his digital invitation was a scam. — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 15 July 2026 Most of the information in question was classified as top secret, according to the indictment. — Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 26 June 2026 Hugo is the one pulling the strings behind the scenes to arrange for Daniel’s theft of the top secret materials. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 13 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for top secret
Recent Examples of Synonyms for top secret
  1. confidential
  2. personal
  3. restricted
  4. classified
  5. private
  6. esoteric
Adjective
  • Under the terms of the agreement, the reports will be kept confidential by the man and his attorneys.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Leaders need to evaluate how existing infrastructure can support confidential computing, which securely connects data across systems.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of confidential
Adjective
  • Through the administration’s embrace (and extensive personal leveraging) of crypto’s potential, crypto and retail speculation are increasingly being woven into the fabric of communicative and cultural spaces.
    — Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Cathy’s treatment of Adam isn’t rooted in innate wickedness, as in Steinbeck’s novel, but personal experience.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of personal
Adjective
  • The owner of a San Gabriel Valley technology company was arrested Thursday after federal prosecutors charged him with smuggling more than $300 million of restricted computer hardware to China.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • These behaviors were rarely seen in the absence of cocaine, illustrating how a normally varied set of actions can become restricted to a persistent behavioral pattern, according to a press release.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of restricted
Adjective
  • Another Falcon was set to soar late Thursday night from Florida, with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The platform also offers political insiders an opportunity to monetize classified information.
    — Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of classified
Adjective
  • Passengers will enjoy the amenities and seamless nature of private jet travel at a fraction of the cost.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Mercury in your private 12th House squares Mars in your 9th, stirring big questions about beliefs, travel, learning, or where you are headed next.
    — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of private
Adjective
  • But then Mehmet is let go from his job teaching esoteric music practices to university students and the household’s sole steady source of income is gone.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Some say the public backlash to AI, and OpenAI, is partly because messaging from the leading labs can be esoteric, rather than grounded in the day-to-day benefits of AI, and in some cases, downright frightening.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of esoteric

Browse Nearby Words

tops
top secret
top-shelf
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Top secret.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/top%20secret. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All