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PRIVATE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines
Example:
our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value
Synonyms:
buck private; common soldier; private
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("private" is a kind of...):
enlisted man (a male enlisted person in the armed forces)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not expressed
Example:
secret (or private) thoughts
Synonyms:
private; secret
Classified under:
Similar:
inward (relating to or existing in the mind or thoughts)
Derivation:
privateness (the condition of being concealed or hidden)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Concerning one person exclusively
Example:
each room has a private bath
Synonyms:
individual; private
Classified under:
Similar:
personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Concerning things deeply private and personal
Example:
private family matters
Synonyms:
intimate; private
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)
Derivation:
privateness (the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others)
privateness (the condition of being concealed or hidden)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy
Example:
public figures struggle to maintain a private life
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
toffee-nosed (snobbish; pretentiously superior)
head-to-head; tete-a-tete (involving two persons; intimately private)
semiprivate (confined to a small number of hospital patients)
privy; secluded; secret (hidden from general view or use)
one-on-one (directly between two individuals)
backstage; offstage (concealed from public view or attention)
nonpublic (not invested with or related to prominent position or status etc.)
insular (suggestive of the isolated life of an island)
confidential (entrusted with private information and the confidence of another)
confidential; secret ((of information) given in confidence or in secret)
closed-door (not open to the public)
close (confined to specific persons)
cloistered; reclusive; secluded; sequestered (providing privacy or seclusion)
clannish; cliquish; clubby; snobbish; snobby (befitting or characteristic of those who incline to social exclusiveness and who rebuff the advances of people considered inferior)
Also:
personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)
esoteric (confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle)
Antonym:
public (not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole)
Derivation:
privateness (the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others)
Context examples:
Even Frederick, my eldest son, you see, who will perhaps inherit as considerable a landed property as any private man in the county, has his profession.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I answered that it had ceased to be a private matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was national property.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“It’s good coffee, too, I know. I took it from Larsen’s private stores. And look at that good wood.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Why must their marriage be private?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
‘That will do, Mr. Melas,’ said he. ‘You perceive that we have taken you into our confidence over some very private business.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And now, in the evening, Mr. Wickfield, Agnes, and I, went to have tea with him in his private capacity.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
“But enough of my private sorrow!”
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Leaving all his private concerns, like the good citizen that he was, he followed you closely in the fog and kept at your heels until you reached this very house.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
To live no longer with the decencies even of a private gentleman!
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
When are you to be married, and where, and who is to perform the ceremony, and what are you to wear, and is it to be a public or a private wedding?
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
