| Private 1. (a.) Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary. 2. (a.) Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer. 3. (a.) Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life. 4. (a.) Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding. 5. (a.) Having secret or private knowledge; privy. 6. (n.) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication. 7. (n.) Personal interest; particular business. 8. (n.) Privacy; retirement. 9. (n.) One not invested with a public office. 10. (n.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer. 11. (n.) The private parts; the genitals. Thesaurus Entries Tommy, Tommy Atkins, absolute, anonymous, antisocial, behind closed doors, buck private, certain, clandestine, closet, common soldier, concealed, concrete, confidential, confidentially, covert, covertly, deep-seated, defined, definite, detailed, determinate, different, discreet, distinct, distinguished, enlisted man, esoteric, especial, exceptional, exclusive, express, extraordinary, fixed, furtively, genitalia, genitals, grunt, hermitical, hidden, hush-hush, hushed, idiosyncratic, immanent, implanted, implicit, in camera, in private, in secret, inaccessible, inalienable, incognito, individual, indwelling, infantryman, infixed, ingrained, inherent, inmost, inner, innermost, inside, interior, internal, intimate, intrinsic, inward, inwrought, irreducible, isolated, minute, noncommissioned officer, not for publication, noteworthy, off the record, on the sly, own, particular, peculiar, personal, personally, precise, private first class, privately, privileged, privy, reclusive, reserved, resident, respective, restricted, restrictive, reticent, retired, retiring, secluded, seclusive, secret, secretively, secretly, sequestered, several, sex organs, singular, sneakily, sneaking, sneakingly, solipsistic, solitary, special, specific, sub rosa, subjective, surreptitious, surreptitiously, top secret, unalienable, unchallengeable, uncommunicative, undisclosed, unofficial, unquestionable, unsociable, unsocial, withdrawn |