OPEN SECRET Definition & Meaning

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open secret

noun

something supposedly secret but actually known quite generally.

open secret

noun

something that is supposed to be secret but is widely known

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of open secret¹

First recorded in 1875–80

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Idioms and Phrases

Something that is supposedly clandestine but is in fact widely known, as in It's an open secret that both their children are adopted . This expression originated as the title of a Spanish play by Calderón, El Secreto a Voces (“The Noisy Secret”), which was translated by Carlo Gozzi into Italian as Il pubblico secreto (1769). In English the term came into general use during the 1800s.

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Example Sentences

For years, it was an open secret: Brokers scooped up tee times at public golf courses across Los Angeles and sold prime slots online, profiting from taxpayer-owned recreation.

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While Anderson did not detail his next steps, Women's Wear Daily reports it is "practically an open secret" that the designer is set for Christian Dior.

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The new film explores the open secret of Chinese birth tourism in the California suburbs, and its impact on the women and communities involved, Frank Shyong writes.

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Nina is an OB-GYN with a stellar reputation at the hospital where she works — and a sketchier one outside of it, where it’s an open secret that Nina performs abortions on the side.

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The previous version of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association imploded after having the open secret of its corruption exposed.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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