Private Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Top Definitions Synonyms Quiz Related Content Examples British Idioms And Phrases This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity. [ prahy-vit]/ ˈpraɪ vɪt /This shows grade level based on the word’s jectivebelonging to some particular person: private rtaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private nfined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential: a private rsonal and not publicly expressed: one’s private holding public office or employment: private of an official or public character; unrelated to one’s official job or position: a former senator who has returned to private life;a college president speaking in his private capacity as a legal moved from or out of public view or knowledge; secret: private open or accessible to the general public: a private beach. undertaken individually or personally: private research. without the presence of others; alone: Let’s go into another room where we can be litary; secluded: He wants to meet us in a more private eferring privacy; retiring: a very private timate; most personal: private, having, or receiving special hospital facilities, privileges, and services, especially a room of one’s own and liberal visiting hours: a private room; a private lowest military, relating to, or coming from nongovernmental sources: private soldier of one of the three lowest enlisted ranks. QUIZARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE “BLUE” SYNONYMS? We could talk until we’re blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color “blue, ” but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you’re a whiz at these colorful terms. Question 1 of 8Which of the following words describes “sky blue”? Idioms about private in private, not publicly; secretly: The hearing will be conducted in of private1350–1400; Middle English
Private definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
(praɪvɪt)
Word forms: privates1. adjective
Private companies, industries, and services are owned or controlled by individuals or stockholders,
rather than by the government or an official organization.
[business]… a joint venture with private industry.
They sent their children to private schools.
privately adverb [ADV with v] No other European country had so much state ownership and so few privately owned
businesses.
2. adjective [ADJ n]
Private individuals are acting only for themselves, and are not representing any group, company,
or organization.
Private individuals with money to lend are more difficult to find than traditional
lenders.
The king was on a private visit to enable him to pray at the tombs of his ancestors.
3. adjective
Your private things belong only to you, or may only be used by you.
They want more state control over private property.
4. adjective
Private places or gatherings may be attended only by a particular group of people, rather
than by the general public.
673 private golf clubs took part in a recent study.
The door is marked “Private. ”
5. adjective
Private meetings, discussions, and other activities involve only a small number of people,
and very little information about them is given to other people.
Don’t bug private conversations, and don’t buy papers that reprint them.
privately adverb Few senior figures have issued any public statements but privately the resignation’s
been welcomed.
6. adjective
Your private life is that part of your life that is concerned with your personal relationships and
activities, rather than with your work or business.
I’ve always kept my private and professional life separate.
7. adjective
Your private thoughts or feelings are ones that you do not talk about to other people.
We all felt as if we were intruding on his private grief.
privately adverb Privately, she worries about whether she’s really good enough.
8. adjective
If you describe a place as private, or as somewhere where you can be private, you mean that it is a quiet place and you can be alone there without being disturbed.
It was the only reasonably private place they could find.
9. adjective
If you describe someone as a private person, you mean that they are very quiet by nature and do not reveal their thoughts
and feelings to other people.
Gould was an intensely private individual.
10. countable noun & title noun
A private is a soldier of the lowest rank in an army or the marines.
He was a private in the U. S. Army.
Synonyms: enlisted man [US, old-fashioned], tommy [British, old-fashioned], private soldier, Tommy Atkins [British, old-fashioned] More Synonyms of private
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
private
private in American English
(ˈpraɪvət)
adjective1. of, belonging to, or concerning a particular person or group; not common or general
private property, a private joke
2. not open to, intended for, or controlled by the public
a private school
3. for an individual person
a private room in a hospital
5.
a private dining room
6. not publicly or generally known; confidential
a private matter
8.
private medical practice
9.
private detective, private tutor
noun10. [pl. ] the genitals: also private parts
11. an enlisted person of either of the two lowest ranks in the U. Army or of the lowest rank in
the U. Marine Corps
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms privately (ˈprivately)adverb
Word originME pryvat < L privatus, belonging to oneself, not to the state < privare, to separate, deprive < privus, separate, peculiar, prob. akin to OL pri: see prime
(ˈpraivɪt)
adjective1. belonging to some particular person
private property
2. pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal
for your private satisfaction
3. confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential
a private meeting
4.
one's private feelings
6. not of an official or public character
private life
8. not open or accessible to the general public
a private beach
10. without the presence of others; alone
12.
a very private person
14.
a private room
a private patient
15. of lowest military rank
noun17. a soldier of one of the three lowest enlisted ranks
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived formsprivatelyadverb
Word origin [1350–1400; ME ‹ L prīvātus private, lit., taken away (from public affairs), special use of ptp. of prīvāre to rob. See deprive, -ate1]
private in British English
(ˈpraɪvɪt)
adjective1.
they had private reasons for the decision
2.
a private conversation
4. (prenominal)
my own private recipe
5. (prenominal)
a private man
6. (prenominal)
a private soldier
7. of, relating to, or provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
the private sector
private housing
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived formsprivately (ˈprivately)adverb
Word originC14: from Latin prīvātus belonging to one individual, withdrawn from public life, from prīvāre to deprive, bereave
Related word partners
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Synonyms of ‘private’ – Collins American Thesaurus
adjective
exclusive, individual, intimate, own, personal, reserved, special
secret, clandestine, confidential, covert, hush-hush (informal), off the record, unofficial
secluded, concealed, isolated, secret, separate, sequestered, solitary
Video: pronunciation of
private
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I was singing in a effort to cheer him up. There always things to think about when she went his arrival, Elaine met at the bus score:
Nov 04, 2021
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Scrabble scorefor ‘private’:12
Frequently Asked Questions about define private
What is the full meaning of private?
pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private satisfaction. confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential: a private meeting. personal and not publicly expressed: one’s private feelings.
How do you define a private person?
adjective. If you describe someone as a private person, you mean that they are very quiet by nature and do not reveal their thoughts and feelings to other people. Gould was an intensely private individual.
What is the synonym of the word private?
adjective. exclusive, individual, intimate, own, personal, reserved, special. secret, clandestine, confidential, covert, hush-hush (informal), off the record, unofficial. secluded, concealed, isolated, secret, separate, sequestered, solitary.