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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

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 private The ministry said private businesses would provide funding while the government would offer financial and administrative assistance. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026 The hotel previously shut down in 2005 for a renovation that converted many of its original guest rooms into private residences before reopening in 2008. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026 The hotel also has its own private heliport, should that be of interest. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026 Junior Kelsey Chandler, who is studying to become a private pilot, said the program has pushed her outside of her comfort zone. — Hannah McIlree, CBS News, 16 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
  • And a later district filing to the state acknowledged that more than 500 people who worked for district contractors likely had Social Security numbers and other confidential information exposed.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Ziccarelli said that Cochran claimed the charges were withdrawn because the defendant was working as a confidential informant.
    — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 16 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
  • 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
  • Perhaps that doubt is the secret melancholy at the heart of even their most seemingly celebratory songs.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026
  • On Monday, a court granted the US government’s request to deny release of a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging a top-secret conference room to steal the frontier lab’s secrets.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of secret
Adjective
  • The show revolved around Crockett and Tubbs, two undercover detectives infiltrating South Florida’s criminal underworld.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • At its center is a youngish man named Bob Arctor, an undercover cop who starts using drugs in order to infiltrate a house full of addicts in Southern California.
    — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • Technogym Checkup supports operators across fitness, health care, hospitality and corporate wellness environments to deliver more personalized and measurable experiences.
    — Andrea Onate, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The service Service is polished, attentive, and highly personalized.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of personalized
Adjective
  • Deep underground, iron-rich rocks could hold the key to producing hydrogen at a fraction of the cost of conventional fuels.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Additionally, the estate includes elevator service to all three floors, 25-yard lap pool, outdoor kitchen, veranda with stone fireplace and underground seven-car garage with Tesla charging station.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of underground
Adjective
  • Ultimately, though, his dismissal was simply a subjective decision in a very subjective business.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
  • What people find calming is highly subjective, Miller says, but most people gravitate toward blues or greens, not white.
    — Steven John, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of subjective

Phrases Containing private

Browse Nearby Words

privacy
private
private detective
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Private.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on private

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about private

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

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

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All