How to Use secretive in a Sentence

secretive

adjective
  • He's very secretive about his work.
  • The most glamorous places may be the least secretive, the most blank.
    — Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker, 26 July 2021
  • That isn’t an effort to be secretive about starters, says the school spokesman.
    — Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Hark has been notably secretive about the rest.
    — Renana Ashkenazi, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and to be secretive.
    — Jason Sheeler, Peoplemag, 7 Aug. 2023
  • The codes were so secretive that not all enslaved people knew about them.
    — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2026
  • But in the past week, the secretive regime has gotten more active.
    — Timothy W. Martin, WSJ, 25 Mar. 2021
  • That sounds pretty secretive to me.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025
  • She is much adored by a young man named Alain, who is as secretive and reserved as his cat.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
  • Rainbow snakes are highly secretive and are rarely seen.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Rainbow snakes are highly secretive and are rarely seen.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
  • But those customers had to be very secretive about the site and the deals that were promoted there.
    — Rendy Jones, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2024
  • Even the biggest and most secretive buck could walk past his stand or be captured on his trail camera.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Nov. 2021
  • Emery has hardly been secretive in his desire to improve his squad.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
  • But the secretive satellite, itself, is just one small piece of the story.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 15 June 2021
  • Maybe the Reba four, but even that was a little secretive.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026
  • The youngster's folks had no idea of their son's secretive music career.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 4 Feb. 2021
  • Abusers may become more secretive.
    — Nina A. Kohn, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • This is outback noir — oblique, secretive and as hard-boiled as the ground is hard-baked — and Sen wears it well.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 23 Feb. 2023
  • The project has come under scrutiny for its secretive process.
    — Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 17 Dec. 2025
  • Partners who show up in this way can be very secretive with their own information.
    — Joy Harden Bradford, AJC.com, 7 May 2026
  • Usually, the secretive, furry wild cats are pursued by large birds of prey and wolves.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Rhianna has been very secretive about her future opus.
    — Séraphine Roger, Vanity Fair, 28 Feb. 2026
  • There’s also this tendency to be more secretive about our health with each other.
    — Kansas City Star, 23 Aug. 2025
  • The Marines are likely being secretive about the crash for two reasons.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 30 Sep. 2020
  • And, later, Pierre Thomas takes us inside one of the most secretive places in the world.
    — ABC News, 21 Nov. 2021
  • The plan was so secretive that even after the war ended, the members of the ghost army were sworn to secrecy.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2024
  • The selection process has long been secretive, but opened up a bit in 2016.
    — Stephanie Fillion, CNN, 29 Sep. 2023
  • Her investigation leads to some of the most secretive and ruthless men in the city.
    — Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2023
  • The world of plastic surgery in 1991, much more so than today, was secretive.
    — Patricia Tortolani, Allure, 29 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'secretive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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