WORD OF THE DAY: DIVULGE
To divulge something, especially secret or private information, is to make it known.
// Rather than divulge the baby name we’ve chosen, we’re waiting till the little one arrives to make introductions.
EXAMPLES OF DIVULGE
“Sun Ra’s agent had called, he said. … The Arkestra was heading out on tour soon, to Europe, and Sonny wanted the three of us to join him. … After we’d calmed down, Don divulged the hitch: the tour would take us away for the school year’s last weeks, meaning we would miss exams and also all the end-of-college parties.” — Michael Lowenthal, Place Envy: Essays in Search of Orientation, 2026
DID YOU KNOW?
Information divulged is typically secret, or known only to insiders, and it isn’t usually shouted from the rooftops. But when divulge first entered English in the 15th century, it did so as a synonym of proclaim: divulging involved declaring or announcing something to the public, a duty of town criers from Lizard Point to Dunnet Head. The word’s source is the Latin verb vulgare, “to make known,” which traces ultimately back to the Latin noun vulgus, meaning “common people” or “mob.” While nowadays divulge can presumably involve blabbing to the rabble, the word usually implies a more careful and considered approach to sharing sensitive information.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
