Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Done or communicated in confidence; secret.
- adj. Entrusted with the confidence of another: a confidential secretary.
- adj. Denoting confidence or intimacy: a confidential tone of voice.
- adj. Containing information, the unauthorized disclosure of which poses a threat to national security.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Enjoying the confidence of another; intrusted with secrets or with private affairs: as, a confidential friend or clerk.
- Intended to be treated as private, or kept in confidence; spoken or written in confidence; secret.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Enjoying, or treated with, confidence; trusted in; trustworthy.
- adj. Communicated in confidence; secret.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. entrusted with private information and the confidence of another
- adj. (of information) given in confidence or in secret
- adj. the level of official classification for documents next above restricted and below secret; available only to persons authorized to see documents so classified
- adj. denoting confidence or intimacy
Etymologies
- From Latin confidentia + -al. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Because keeping the supply chain confidential is so important to buyers, they try to impose confidentiality on their suppliers.”
“Informants give you information in the public interest and say that their career, liberty or life depend on keeping their name confidential.”
The Guardian: Public interest should trump self-interest | Nick Cohen
“Obeid said the SPLM violated provisions of the CPA by signing what he described as confidential agreements with the U.S. government.”
Voice of America: Unresolved Issues Will Render Referendum 'Illegimate' Warns Sudan Party Official
“The daily newspaper for the Lorraine region in eastern France printed what it described as a confidential document from the French foreign intelligence service DGSE citing an uncorroborated report from Saudi secret services that the leader of the al-Qaida terror network had died…”
reports of Bin Laden’s death are “unconfirmed” « raincoaster
“Whenever his mother wanted what she called a confidential talk with him she always selected the sofa as the most suitable ground on which to open her campaign.”
“He then presented a letter," says the President in his private journal, "which he termed confidential, and to be considered as addressed to me in my private character, which was too strongly marked with an intention, as well as a wish, to have no person between the Minister and President, in the transaction of business between the two nations.”
“Ahmadinejad was asked by ABC News about a Times of London report last week on what it called a confidential Iranian technical document describing a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the part of a nuclear warhead that sets off an explosion.”
“The NCL made the allegation after what it described as a confidential tip led the organization to commission independent testing of Ocean Spray's Choice cranberries, which are sold to food manufacturers for use as an ingredient in cereal bars, baked goods, trail mixes and other snacks.”
“Ahmadinejad was asked by ABC News about a report last week in "The Times" of London on what it called a confidential Iranian technical document describing a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the part of a nuclear warhead that sets off an explosion.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘confidential’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
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SoSheShall's list
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heart of darkness
yawl, sea-reach, offing, barge, sprit, estuary, yarn, aft, mizzenmast, placid, gauzy, diaphanous and 141 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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_mark's list
Words I like!
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2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Round 2
query, tendency, danceable, parachute, malignant, brutal, humanely, lyrically, deductible, shindig, gravel, embroidered and 274 more...
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dickensian
commodious, unaccommodating, curtseyed, conviction, crockery, trousers, obtrusive, irascible, considerable, circumstance, ought, establishment and 53 more...
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A Christmas Carol vocabulary
ironmongery, unhallowed, residuary, ramparts, entreaty, trifle, phantoms, intimation, impoverished, miser, alienated, morose and 82 more...
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Secret Agent Man
Wanna know how to be a spy? Sorry, that's classified. But this list can teach you how to talk like one.
black-bag job, floater, dog drag, l pill, national agent, sheep dipping, dry clean, operation slammer, foots, wet affairs, walk the cat, piano and 16 more...
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Covert Ops
Words of a clandestine nature
incognito, covert, forbidden, confidential, rendezvous, clandestine, subterfuge, espionage, sleuth, subversion, directorate
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Z-kai
subject to, adopt, attentive, coverage, expectation, lower, demanding, count, project, capability, projection, conviction and 45 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for confidential.

pikachu He was becoming confidential now, but I fancy my unresponsive attitude must have exasperated him at last, for he judged it necessary to inform me that he feared neither God nor devil, let alone any mere man.
--Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Mar 8, 2011