What does hidden mean?
Hidden describes something that is concealed from sight, attention, or knowledge. It may refer to a literal object, as in a hidden door or hidden treasure, or to information, costs, feelings, and meanings that are not immediately apparent. The word often suggests deliberate concealment, although it can also describe something merely obscured from view. Hidden is the past participle of the verb hide and is consequently closely associated with the forms hid and hiding. In figurative contexts, it often implies that something exists but has been deliberately overlooked or kept secret. Hidden is especially useful when the issue is the presence of something whose existence or significance is not readily recognized. Its familiar combinations with terms such as costs, assets, meaning, and danger make it valuable in journalism, business, psychology, literary analysis, and everyday description.
Concealed from view, attention, or knowledge; not apparent, revealed, or easily discovered.
"The village remained hidden in a narrow valley below the mountains."
The adjective is widely used both literally and figuratively and can carry the connotation of deliberate concealment.
The past participle of hide, used in constructions requiring a participle.
"The letter had been hidden inside the cover of an old book."
In this use, hidden normally functions as part of a verb phrase rather than independently as a main verb.
Hidden survives from Old English hīdan, a word that has been keeping things out of sight for more than a thousand years.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hidden come from?
Hidden is the past participle of hide and is also used as an adjective. The base verb comes from Old English hīdan, meaning “to conceal” or “hide,” and developed in Middle English as hiden before producing the modern forms hid, hidden, and hiding. Its related English vocabulary includes hideaway, while hiding denotes the activity of concealment or a place in which someone is concealed.
Related word forms
How hidden is actually used
Hidden is neutral in register and can refer literally to physical concealment or figuratively to information, feelings, costs, and meanings that have been kept out of view.
Easily confused with hidden
Hidden describes something that has been concealed, while hiding usually names the activity of concealing oneself or something else.