A secretive person or organisation likes to keep thoughts, plans, or actions hidden. They may answer with a smile and a closed door. They do not have to be doing something wrong; some people are just private, and some companies keep product plans quiet on purpose. But the word often carries a small frown. Call a neighbour secretive and you mean they will not tell you things a more open person would share. Call a government secretive and you mean it is hiding more than it should. It describes a habit, not one secret: the pattern of holding back. It is a little stronger and a little less kind than private. Private can be healthy; secretive makes listeners wonder why. You can be secretive about money, about a relationship, or about a whole project. The feeling is: information is being guarded, and you are on the outside.