秘密 meaning in English
secret; private; confidential; clandestine; a secret
Meaning of 秘密
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- secret; private; confidential; clandestine
- a secret
How to use 秘密
秘密 works as a noun meaning a secret and as an adjective meaning secret or confidential. It often appears in phrases like 保守秘密 (bǎoshǒu mìmì, to keep a secret) and 秘密会议 (mìmì huìyì, a secret meeting). Example: 这是我们的秘密。(Zhè shì wǒmen de mìmì.) This is our secret.
秘 (mì) and 密 (mì) sound exactly the same, and both carry the idea of something hidden or tightly closed. Put two hidden things together and you get 秘密 (mìmì), a secret.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up the two characters because they share the same sound and the shape 必 inside. 秘 has 禾 on the left, while 密 has 宀 on top and 山 at the bottom. Also note that 秘 is written first, so do not write 密秘.
秘密 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
秘 mì · secret · 10 strokes
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密 mì · dense · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 秘密.
| 神秘 | shénmì | mysterious; mystery |
| 密码 | mìmǎ | cipher; secret code; password; PIN |
| 保密 | bǎomì | to keep sth confidential; to maintain secrecy |
| 秘书 | mìshū | secretary |
| 亲密 | qīnmì | intimate; close |
| 密切 | mìqiè | close; intimate; to strengthen (ties, cooperation etc) |
| 紧密 | jǐnmì | inseparably close |
| 秘书长 | mìshūzhǎng | secretary-general |
| 机密 | jīmì | secret; classified; classified information; secret |
| 秘诀 | mìjué | secret know-how; key (to longevity) |
| 密封 | mìfēng | to seal up |
| 严密 | yánmì | tight; strict; closely controlled; rigorous and thorough |
Questions about 秘密
What does 秘密 mean?
秘密 (mìmì) means "secret; private; confidential; clandestine; a secret" and is used as a adjective and noun.
How do you write 秘密?
秘密 is made of 2 characters: 秘 (10 strokes), 密 (11 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.
Is 秘密 an HSK word?
Yes. 秘密 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say 'tell me a secret' or 'keep a secret' in Chinese?
You can say 告诉我一个秘密 (gàosu wǒ yí ge mìmì) for 'tell me a secret.' To keep a secret, say 保守秘密 (bǎoshǒu mìmì), or simply use the verb 保密 (bǎomì), as in 请保密 (qǐng bǎomì), 'please keep it confidential.'
What is the difference between 秘密 and 神秘?
秘密 means something deliberately kept hidden, like a secret plan or private information. 神秘 (shénmì) means mysterious, describing something strange or hard to understand, such as 一个神秘的人 (yí ge shénmì de rén), a mysterious person.