Meaning & use
privacy
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Meanings
noununcountable
The condition of being away from other people's view or attention, so that you can do things without being watched or disturbed.
Grammar: Used without an or plural: she wanted some privacy.
Patterns
- in privacy
- have privacy
- invade someone's privacy
The thick hedge gave the garden complete privacy.
She asked for a little privacy while she took the phone call.
Guests expect privacy in their hotel rooms.
noununcountablelegal
A person's right to keep their personal information and affairs from being known or shared by others.
Grammar: Often used in legal and online contexts: data privacy, privacy laws.
Patterns
- protect someone's privacy
- a breach of privacy
- privacy policy
The new law is meant to protect consumers' privacy online.
He accused the newspaper of invading his privacy.
Each website must post a privacy policy explaining how it uses your data.
Common combinations
- invade someone's privacy
- Reading her diary would invade her privacy.
- protect privacy
- The app promises to protect your privacy.
- right to privacy
- The court recognized a right to privacy in the home.
- in the privacy of your home
- You can watch the film in the privacy of your home.
- privacy settings
- Check your privacy settings before posting photos.
- breach of privacy
- Sharing the patient's records was a serious breach of privacy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seclusion
- Seclusion suggests staying apart in a quiet, hidden place, while privacy only means being free from observation.
- solitude
- Solitude is about being alone, often by choice and sometimes pleasantly, while privacy can exist even when others are nearby.
- confidentiality
- Confidentiality refers to keeping information secret, often in a professional setting, rather than being unobserved.
- secrecy
- Secrecy involves deliberately hiding something, and can sound suspicious, whereas privacy sounds like a reasonable right.
Opposites
Word family
- private adjective
- belonging to one person or group, and not shared
- privately adverb
- in a way that others cannot see or hear
- privatize verb
- to move a business from public to private ownership
Commonly confused: privacy or privation?
privacy vs privation
Privation means a lack of basic necessities such as food. It is unrelated to being unobserved.
Practice
The tenants complained that the landlord kept entering the flat without warning, which was an invasion of their ___.
Choose one answer.
Privacy is the right to be free from unwanted intrusion, which is what entering without warning violates. Privation means hardship and is a tempting lookalike.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “privacy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.