Confidential Meaning
/ˌkɒn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjKept, or meant to be kept, secret within a certain circle of persons; not intended to be known publicly
adjInclined to share confidences; (of things) making people inclined to share confidences; involving the sharing of confidences.
Sentence Examples
He soon became confidential with the man.
This information is confidential.
His secretary flatly denied leaking any confidential information.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor placed the patient's ____ file in a locked drawer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The medical records are highly ____ and can only be accessed by authorized healthcare personnel.
Word Origin & History
From Latin cōnfīdentia + English -al. Possibly a calque of French confidentiel. First attested in 1641.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]I have a communication of a very private—indeed, I will say, of a sacredly confidential nature, which I desire to make to you."
— 1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter LXI, in Middlemarch […], volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book VI, page 355:
"It would tell against your reputation, losing a confidential document, wouldn’t it? Why didn’t you keep it confidential if it was confidential?"
— 1960, Muriel Spark, chapter 10, in The Bachelors, Philadelphia: Lippincott, published 1961, page 163:
"“One of the things that I think parents would tell you, and that students and victims and patients would tell you, is that we have a legal responsibility, but I think more importantly a moral responsibility, to hold their information confidential and private,” Blanton said."
— 2016 September 1, Ellie Kaufman, “University of Kentucky sues student newspaper over sexual assault case”, in CNN:
"Long, long would it be ere Miss Crawford′s name passed his lips again, or she could hope for a renewal of such confidential intercourse as had been."
— 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 310:
"I was only alive to the condensed confidential comfortableness of sharing a pipe and a blanket with a real friend."
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Nightgown”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 60:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor placed the patient's ____ file in a locked drawer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The medical records are highly ____ and can only be accessed by authorized healthcare personnel.