How to say “secret” in 47 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- secreto/seˈkɾeto/ Spanish
- секрет[sʲɪˈkrʲet] Russian
- سري/sirrijj/ Arabic
- 秘密/mi⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi⁵¹/ Chinese
- 비밀[ˈpi(ː)miɭ] Korean
- गुप्त/ɡʊpt̪/ Hindi
“secret” in Spanish: secreto · German: geheimnis · Italian: segreto · Portuguese: segredo · Chinese: 秘密 · Korean: 비밀 · Russian: секрет · Arabic: سري
It is commonest in Chinese, where 秘密 is the 197th most used word.
Secret in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic سري/sirrijj/ secret, hidden, clandestine #1,258
- Basque sekretu/s̺ekretu/ #642
- Bengali গুপ্ত/ɡupt̪o/ #1,216
- Bosnian tajna/tâːjna/ #981
- Bulgarian тая[ˈtajɐ] to keep something secret or concealed #897
- Catalan secret[səˈkɾet] #597
- Chinese 秘密/mi⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi⁵¹/ #197
- Croatian tajna/tâːjna/ #989
- Czech tajemství[ˈtajɛmstviː] #754
- Danish hemmelighed/ˈhɛməliˌheðˀ/ #1,218
- Dutch geheime/ɣəˈhɛɪmə/ #1,152
- English mystery/ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown #2,088
- Esperanto sekreto/seˈkreto/ a secret; private affair; confidentiality #1,153
- Estonian saladus/ˈsɑlɑd̥us/ #1,071
- Finnish salainen/ˈsɑlɑi̯nen/ secret, clandestine #2,230
- Galician segredo[seˈɣɾeðʊ] #1,171
- German geheimnis/ɡəˈhaɪmnɪs/ #1,203
- Greek μυστικό/mistiˈko/ #787
- Hebrew סוד/sod/ #1,100
- Hindi गुप्त/ɡʊpt̪/ secret; private; hidden, clandestine;… #958
- Hungarian titkos[ˈtitkoʃ] secret, hidden, concealed #949
- Icelandic leyndarmál[ˈleintarˌmauːl] #803
- Indonesian rahasia/rahaˈsia/ secret, confidential #437
- Italian segreto/seˈɡre.to/ #835
- Korean 비밀[ˈpi(ː)miɭ] #494
- Latvian noslēpumu/ˈnuoslæːpumu/ #996
- Lithuanian paslaptis/pɐsɫɐpˈtʲɪs/ #692
- Macedonian тајна[ˈtajna] #592
- Malay rahsia/rahˈsia/ secret; confidential #435
- Malayalam രഹസ്യം/ɾɐhɐsjɐm/ #374
- Norwegian hemmelig/ˈhɛməlɪ/ #1,131
- Persian راز/ɾɒːz/ #878
- Polish sekret/ˈsɛ.krɛt/ #2,263
- Portuguese segredo/seˈɡɾe.du/ #941
- Romanian secret/seˈkret/ secret, hidden #804
- Russian секрет[sʲɪˈkrʲet] #1,538
- Serbian tajna/tâːjna/ #993
- Slovak tajomstvo/tajɔmstvɔ/ #578
- Slovenian skrivnost/skriʋnóːst/ #371
- Spanish secreto/seˈkɾeto/ #706
- Swedish hemlighet/ˈhɛmlɪɡˌheːt/ #1,217
- Tagalog lihim/ˈlihim/ #600
- Tamil ரகசியம்/ɾɐɡɐtʃɪjɐm/ secret, mystery #559
- Telugu అంతస్తు/an̪t̪ast̪u/ a secret place a hiding place, a corner #782
- Turkish gizli/ɟiz.li/ #471
- Ukrainian секрет[seˈkrɛt] #1,433
- Urdu پوشیدہ/poː.ʃiː.d̪ᵊ/ hidden, concealed, secret, not visible #164
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.