Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

secret of polichinelle

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: se-cret of polichinelle
IPA

32

Scrabble Score

20

Letters

2

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A supposed secret known to everyone.

Example Sentences

"In October and November 1910 there was a great secret of Polichinelle. Conceivably we may learn from some future historian even more about it than we knew at the time."
"It is said that Polst fell because he revealed in an unlucky interview the Secret of Polichinelle, the secret which all the world knew, the secret that there was a claque at the Metropolitan Opera House."
"British public life specializes in an elegant variation of the secret of Polichinelle. After a secret is disclosed it may still be treated as if it were a secret."

Etymology

Calque of French secret de Polichinelle.

Inflected Forms

secrets of Polichinelle (plural)

Synonyms

open secret

Questions

What does secret of polichinelle mean?: A supposed secret known to everyone.
Where does secret of polichinelle come from?: Calque of French secret de Polichinelle.

How to pronounce secret of polichinelle

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