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PlainSpell

secret

se·cret/ˈsiː.kɹɪt/noun, verb, adjective

secret is spelled S-E-C-R-E-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (se·cret). It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “secret vs secrete” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, secret means “A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of secret is secrets.

How many letters and syllables are in secret?

Letters6: S-E-C-R-E-T
Syllables2: se·cret
In writing83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is secret?

Secret appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce secret?

  • /ˈsiː.kɹɪt/
  • /ˈsiː.kɹət/
  • /ˈsiː.kɹɛt/

Secret has 2 syllables, split se·cret in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-secret.wav, En-us-secret.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with secret

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

secret vs secrete70 G

Also written: secrete.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with secret?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as secret.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: resect, certes.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of secret

  • secrets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • secreting US, participle, present
  • secretting UK, participle, present
  • secreted US, participle, past
  • secretted UK, participle, past
  • more secret comparative
  • most secret superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does secret mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.

    "Can you keep a secret?" "Yes." "So can I."

  2. 2

    The key or principle by which something is made clear; the knack.

    The secret to a long-lasting marriage is compromise.

  3. 3

    Something not understood or known.

  4. 4

    Private seclusion.

    The work was done in secret, so that nobody could object.

  5. 5

    archaicThe genital organs.

  6. 6

    A form of steel skullcap.

  7. 7

    Any prayer spoken inaudibly and not aloud; especially, one of the prayers in the Tridentine Mass, immediately following the "orate, fratres", said inaudibly by the celebrant.

adjective

  1. 1

    Being or kept hidden.

    We went down a secret passage.

  2. 2

    obsoleteWithdrawn from general intercourse or notice; in retirement or secrecy; secluded.

  3. 3

    obsoleteFaithful to a secret; not inclined to divulge or betray confidence; secretive, separate, apart.

  4. 4

    obsoleteSeparate; distinct.

verb

  1. 1

    rareTo make or keep secret.

    … she would unfold the silk, press it with a smooth wooden block that she'd heated in the oven, and then once more secret it away.

  2. 2

    rareTo hide secretly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Secret in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsecret (knowledge that is hidden)
GermanGeheimnis (knowledge that is hidden), geheim (being or kept hidden)
Portuguesesegredo (knowledge that is hidden), secreto (being or kept hidden)
Spanishsecreto, arcano (knowledge that is hidden)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does secret come from?

The noun is from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum. Doublet of secretum. Displaced Old English dēagolnes (“a secret”). The verb is from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after secret