confidential

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confidential

/ˌkɒn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ UK
/ˌkɒn.fɪˈden.ʃəl/ UK
/ˌkɔn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ US
/ˌkɑn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ US, cot caught merger
/ˌkɒn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ Canada, standard
/ˌkɑn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ Canada, dialectal
/ˌkɔn.fɪˈden.ʃəl/ Australia
/ˌkɒn.fəˈden.ʃəl/ New Zealand
/ˌkɔn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/ Scotland
/ˌkɔn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃʌl/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɛnʃəl

Where it comes from

From Latin cōnfīdentia + English -al. Possibly a calque of French confidentiel. First attested in 1641.

adjective more confidential · most confidential

Kept, or meant to be kept, secret within a certain circle of persons; not intended to be known publicly. The newspaper claims a leaked confidential report by the government admits to problems with corrupt MPs.
Similar: private, classified, off the record, privileged, secret, dern · Opposite: public, on the record
dated Inclined to share confidences; (of things) making people inclined to share confidences; involving the sharing of confidences. Sitting in front of the fire, they became quite confidential, and began to gossip.
dated Having someone's confidence or trust; having a position requiring trust; worthy of being trusted with confidences. a confidential agent

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: secret, private, close, classified, closet, top-secret, secrecy, need-to-know, secretive, clandestine, undercover, secretly, privacy, covert, closed, hidden

Translations

Every language

adj meant to be kept secret within a certain circle

Español	confidencial
日本語	親展 shinten
中文	機密 /机密 jīmì, 機要 /机要 jīyào
हिन्दी	गोपनीय gopnīya
Português	confidencial, secreto
Français	confidentiel
Deutsch	vertraulich
Italiano	confidenziàle, riservàto
Română	confidențial
Русский	конфиденциа́льный konfidenciálʹnyj, та́йный tájnyj, довери́тельный doverítelʹnyj
العربية	سَرِّيّ sarriyy, خُصُوصِيّ ḵuṣūṣiyy
עברית	חסוי khasui

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MLA

"confidential." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/confidential. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

confidential. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/confidential

Chicago

"confidential." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/confidential.

BibTeX

@misc{confidential_2026,
  title = {confidential},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/confidential},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}