Meaning & use
divulge
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To tell someone something that was meant to be secret or private.
Grammar: Takes an object, and often to: divulge a secret to the press.
Patterns
- divulge something to someone
- divulge that something happened
The doctor must never divulge a patient's records.
She refused to divulge where she had hidden the key.
He divulged the plan to a reporter.
verbtransitiverareliterary
To let something become known, as a hidden quality or fact comes to light.
Grammar: A rare, literary use with an impersonal subject.
The letter divulged more than its writer intended.
A careless remark divulged his true feelings.
Word forms
| third person singular | divulges |
|---|---|
| past tense | divulged |
| past participle | divulged |
| -ing form | divulging |
Common combinations
- divulge a secret
- He promised never to divulge the secret.
- divulge information
- Employees must not divulge confidential information.
- refuse to divulge
- The witness refused to divulge her source.
- divulge details
- The company would not divulge details of the deal.
- reluctant to divulge
- She was reluctant to divulge her age.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reveal
- Reveal is more general and can be done on purpose or by accident, while divulge suggests passing on something that was meant to stay private.
- disclose
- Disclose is common in business and legal writing and sounds more official, whereas divulge sounds more personal.
- leak
- Leak means secretly passing information to the press, but divulge need not involve a secret source.
- blurt out
- Blurt out means saying something suddenly without thinking, while divulge may be deliberate.
Opposites
Word family
- divulgence noun
- the act of revealing a secret
- divulgation noun
- a rare word for disclosure
- vulgar adjective
- a distant relative from the same Latin root meaning common people
Commonly confused: divulge or divulgate? divulge or divorce?
divulge vs divulgate
Divulgate is a rare, old variant. Divulge is the normal modern word.
divulge vs divorce
Divorce is the legal end of a marriage, and is unrelated despite its similar start.
Practice
The lawyer would not ___ what her client had told her, because it was confidential.
Choose one answer.
Divulge means to reveal something private, which fits a confidential statement. Devote and deliver do not take that kind of object, and dispute means to argue about.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “divulge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.