private — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Belonging or pertaining to an individual person, group of people, or entity that is not the state.

   Examples

   In some countries, healthcare is provided by both the government and private companies.

   More examples (1)

   Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16.[…]There are no inspectors, no exams until the age of 18, no school league tables, no private tuition industry, no school uniforms.

2. Relating to an individual or group of individuals outside of their official roles; often, sensitive or personal.

   Examples

   This book is her private journal.

   It was a very private thing, they felt, and not to be tossed indiscriminately about.

   More examples (1)

   Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.

3. Not publicly known or divulged; secret, confidential; (of a message) intended only for a specific person or group.

   Examples

   The identity of the beneficiaries of the trust is private.

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   The key point in the original article was that the relationship with the woman, named “Colette,” came to light because Aupetit had sent a private letter meant for her to his secretary instead.

4. Protected from view or disturbance by others; secluded; not publicly accessible.

   Examples

   Can we go somewhere more private?

   I invited him to take breakfast with me; he accepted the invitation, and told me he would tell me about himself when we were in a more private place.

5. Not in governmental office or employment.

   Examples

   Military secrets should not be entrusted to unreliable private individuals.

6. Secretive; reserved.

   Examples

   He is a very private person.

7. Not traded by the public.

   Examples

   private equity

   More examples (1)

   Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

8. Of a room in a medical facility, not shared with another patient.

9. Financially reliant on fees rather than government funding.

   Usage

   • of schools

10. Accessible only to the class itself or instances of it, and not to other classes or even subclasses.

    Usage

    • not-comparable

    Antonyms

    publicpublished

11. Of the mind or language, not in principle experienceable, knowable, or understandable by others.

Noun

1. A soldier of the lowest rank in the army.

2. A doctor working in privately rather than publicly funded health care.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   In the cities and towns of California, privates are pressuring county governments to close or reduce in size their hospitals and to pay private hospitals for the care of low-income patients. Thus everything is stacked against public hospitals.

   Because you are already moving people with the limitations of what we did in 1982 on the capping of Medicare, you are finding out that the privates are picking up that slack, […]

3. The genitals.

   Usage

   • euphemistic
   • in-plural

4. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   The Count Meloone, a Noble Lord of France, Whose priuate with me of the Dolphines loue, s much more generall, then these lines import.

5. Personal interest; particular business.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Nor must I be unmindful of my private.

6. Privacy; retirement.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Go off, I diſcard you: let me enioy my priuate: go off.

7. One not invested with a public office.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   And what haue Kings, that Priuates haue not too,[…]

8. A private lesson.

   Usage

   • plural-normally

   Examples

   If you want to learn ballet, consider taking privates.

Verb

1. To make something hidden from the public (without deleting it permanently).

   Usage

   • Internet
   • Transitive

   Examples

   During these negotiations, however, the Kleins say that Hosseinzadeh issued a copyright takedown for the video — even after it had already been privated.

   More examples (2)

   Shay has also since briefly returned to social media, making a quick post on Instagram. His account was privated following his scandal in February and his Twitter remains inactive.

   "[…] IOI had no part in privating the subreddit, this was entirely the decision of the moderators, and we are just fellow fans like you who volunteer our time to help out," a moderator wrote.

   “Must be hard being a one-hit wonder,” a follower negged me once. “Actually, yes,” I joked in a now-privated video response. “Thank you for noticing.”

Adjective

1. confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy

   Antonyms

   public

   Examples

   a private place

   private discussions

   More examples (6)

   private lessons

   a private club

   a private secretary

   private property

   the former President is now a private citizen

   public figures struggle to maintain a private life

2. concerning things deeply private and personal

   Synonyms

   intimate

   Examples

   intimate correspondence

   private family matters

3. concerning one person exclusively

   Synonyms

   individual

   Examples

   we all have individual cars

   each room has a private bath

4. not expressed

   Synonyms

   secret

   Examples

   secret (or private) thoughts

Noun

1. an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines

   Synonyms

   buck privatecommon soldier

   Broader terms

   enlisted man

   Examples

   our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value