Chinese word

保密

Pronunciation

Pinyinbǎo mì

请把我的生日惊喜保密，不要告诉她。qǐng bǎ wǒ de shēng rì jīng xǐ bǎo mì bú yào gào sù tā

Please keep my birthday surprise secret and don't tell her.

为了不影响调查，大家请对案件进展保密。wèi le bù yíng xiǎng diào chá dà jiā qǐng duì àn jiàn jìn zhǎn bǎo mì

To avoid affecting the investigation, everyone, please keep the progress of the case secret.

Treat information as something guarded behind a closed door, so it stays away from other people.

隐瞒yǐn mán: Withholding facts or the truth from people who would otherwise learn them.

把信息或事情隐藏起来，不让别人知道或传播，以保护秘密。bǎ xìn xī huò shì qíng yǐn cáng qǐ lái bú ràng bié rén zhī dào huò chuán bō yǐ bǎo hù mì mì

The compound 保 (bǎo, "protect") + 密 (mì, "secret") presents secrecy as something actively protected from disclosure.

Unlike the English adjective confidential, this Chinese word is a verb, so it describes an action rather than a quality of information.