Meaning & use
concealed
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Hidden from view or kept out of sight so that others cannot easily find or see it.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a concealed door; the door was concealed.
Patterns
- concealed behind something
- concealed from someone
A concealed door behind the bookshelf led to the cellar.
The camera was concealed inside a smoke detector.
The entrance was well concealed by tall hedges.
adjectivecomparable
Kept secret, as with feelings, facts or intentions that a person chooses not to reveal.
Grammar: Often describes feelings or facts: concealed anger, a concealed motive.
Patterns
- a concealed motive
- concealed from the public
He had a concealed fear of speaking in public.
The report revealed a concealed financial loss.
Her concealed disappointment showed only in her eyes.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of conceal: hid something or someone, or kept a fact secret.
Grammar: Takes an object: she concealed the gift under the bed.
Patterns
- conceal something from someone
- conceal something behind something
She concealed the letter in her coat pocket.
He concealed his illness from his colleagues for months.
Word forms
| base form | conceal |
|---|---|
| -ing form | concealing |
Common combinations
- concealed weapon
- Carrying a concealed weapon is illegal in many places.
- concealed camera
- A concealed camera caught the thief on tape.
- concealed entrance
- The cave has a concealed entrance behind a waterfall.
- well concealed
- The nest was so well concealed that we nearly walked past.
- concealed in
- The coins were concealed in a hollow book.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hidden
- Hidden is the everyday word and may be accidental, while concealed suggests that someone deliberately hid it.
- covert
- Covert is more formal and describes secret actions or operations, not objects that are physically out of sight.
- secret
- Secret refers to information known by few, while concealed often refers to a thing placed out of view.
- disguised
- Disguised means changed in appearance so as to look like something else, not simply hidden.
Opposites
Word family
- conceal verb
- to hide something or keep it secret
- concealment noun
- the act of hiding something
- concealer noun
- makeup that hides skin marks
- unconcealed adjective
- not hidden; open and obvious
Commonly confused: concealed or canceled?
concealed vs canceled
Canceled (or cancelled) means called off, as in an event. It looks similar but means something completely different, and the misspelling 'conceled' mixes the two.
Practice
The thieves ___ the stolen jewels in a hollow tree trunk.
Choose one answer.
Concealed means hid. Conceded means admitted, canceled means called off, and consoled means comforted, so none of them fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “concealed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.