秘而不宣 (mì ér bù xuān) — to keep something secret; to not disclose; to c…

Definition

A formal idiom meaning 'to keep something secret and not announce it' — emphasizes deliberate, sustained concealment, stronger than a plain 保密.

idiom

to keep something secretto not discloseto conceal

秘而不宣，。
Zhè jiàn shì tā yì zhí mì ér bù xuān, lián jiā rén dōu bù zhī dào.
He has kept this matter a secret, not even his family knows.
秘而不宣，。
Gōng sī duì xīn chǎn pǐn jì huà mì ér bù xuān, zhí dào fā bù huì cái gōng kāi.
The company kept the new product plan under wraps and only revealed it at the launch event.
秘而不宣，。
Tā men mì ér bù xuān dì jìn xíng le tán pàn, wài jiè háo bù zhī qíng.
They conducted the negotiations in secret, completely unknown to the outside world.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

禾必秘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

必

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 必 part gives 秘 its sound. The 禾 side replaced an older ritual marker, linking it to secret rituals and arcane meaning.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 而 is a picture of a beard.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀亘宣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

亘

亘gèn宣xuān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

宣 pairs the roof 宀, pointing to the emperor's main hall, with 亘 as the sound part. From that hall meaning, it came to mean clear or evident.