secret society

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Related to secret society: Freemason

secret society

An organization, such as a lodge, that requires its members to conceal certain activities, such as its rites of initiation, from outsiders.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

secret society

a society or organization that conceals its rites, activities, etc, from those who are not members

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

se′cret soci′ety

an organization, as a fraternal society, whose members share secret rites and promise to assist each other.

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Noun

secret society - a society that conceals its activities from nonmembers

association - a formal organization of people or groups of people; "he joined the Modern Language Association"

Freemasonry, Masonry - Freemasons collectively

National Volunteers Association, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - an all-male organization begun in 1925 to foster nationalism in India's Hindus

Translations

GeheimbundGeheimgesellschaft

References in classic literature ?

He received a salary on the staff of the National Guard, where he held a sinecure which was paid for by the city of Paris; he was government commissioner to a secret society; and filled a position of superintendence in the royal household.

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"It gives me the impression of a secret society of some sort; the same with his badge upon the forearm."

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This terrible secret society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

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No doubt we two should find many things to talk about by ourselves in reference to our common calling, added little Fyne portentously in his grave undertones, as if the Mercantile Marine were a secret society.

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"Of course it is; we are not a secret society; and that being the case, it is all the more curious that the general should have been on his way to wake me up in order to tell me this."

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The 'prentice made answer that a stranger was in attendance, who claimed admission into that secret society of 'Prentice Knights, and a free participation in their rights, privileges, and immunities.

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"Yes, but it's a secret society and therefore a hostile and harmful one which can only cause harm."

But you also say that our oath of allegiance is a conditional matter, and to that I reply: 'You are my best friend, as you know, but if you formed a secret society and began working against the government- be it what it may- I know it is my duty to obey the government.

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"Looks like a secret society got hold of them," said Bert.

"Secret society," he repeated, with his pipe between his teeth and the match flaring, in response to his words.

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He has turned what was clean, common-sense butchery among his fellow-barbarians into a very modern and scientific secret society of assassins.

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Examples of Silent Bill's street art, some featuring the Secret Society of Super Villain Artists logo - which has been appearing everywhere from Las Vegas to Australia

News News 'It was the silliest thing I could think of ... now it's taking over the world' MEET SILENT BILL - THE MERSEYSIDE MAN BEHIND A GLOBAL STREET ART PHENOMENON