- reveal
- reveal, discover, disclose, divulge, tell, betray can all mean to make known what has been or should be concealed or is intended to be kept concealed.Reveal implies a setting fofth or exhibition by or as if by lifting a curtain that veils or obscures. It can apply to supernatural or inspired revelation of truths beyond or above the range of ordinary human sight or reason{
sacred laws . . . unto him revealed in vision— Spenser
}{in laws divine, deduced by reason, or to faith revealed— Wordsworth
}{the artist, the man of genius, raises this veil and reveals Nature to us— Ellis
}{he must feel as a man what he reveals as a poet— Day Lewis
}or to simple disclosure{a foreboding crept into him that if he said nothing now, he would someday soon have a dirtier past to reveal— Malamud
}or it may carry no suggestions of an intentional communication but imply rather an affording of signs or other evidence from which the truth may be inferred{the paradox of both distrusting and burdening government reveals the lack of a conscious philosophy of politics— Frankfurter
}{England, where the speech of a self-made man and of a . . . university graduate will almost always reveal the differences in their formal education— Joseph
}Discover (see also DISCOVER 2, INVENT) implies an exposing to view by or as if by uncovering; the term usually suggests that the thing discovered has been hidden from sight or perception but is not, as often in the case of reveal, in itself beyond the range of human vision or comprehension{go draw aside the curtains and discover the several caskets to this noble prince— Shak.
}{it is a test which we may apply to all figure-painters—a test which will often discover the secret of unsatisfactory design— Binyon
}Disclose is more often used in this sense than discover{a black dress which disclosed all she decently could of her shoulders and bosom— Wouk
}{the stress of passion often discloses an aspect of the personality completely ignored till then by its closest intimates— Conrad
}More often disclose implies the making known of something that has not been announced or has previously been kept secret{the court refused to disclose its decision before the proper time
}{the confessions of St. Austin and Rousseau disclose the secrets of the human heart— Gibbon
}{the Bishop did not disclose his objective, and the Vicar asked no questions— Cather
}Divulge differs little from disclose in this latter sense except in often carrying a suggestion of impropriety or of a breach of confidence{his voice became secretive and confidential, the voice of a man divulging fabulous professional secrets— Dahi
}{he knew of the conspiracy and did not divulge it— Belloc
}or in implying a more public disclosure{it seemed to me an occasion to divulge my real ideas and hopes for the Commonwealth— L. P. Smith
}Tell (see also COUNT 1) may come very close to divulge in the sense of making known something which should be kept a secret{gentle-men never tell
}but more often it implies the giving of necessary or helpful information, especially on request or demand{tell me the news
}{why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?— Gen 12:18
}{she never told her love— Shak.
}Betray (see also DECEIVE) often implies a divulging of a secret, but it carries either a stronger and more obvious suggestion of a breach of faith{had . . . written no letters that would betray the conspiracy he had entered into— Anderson
}or of a disclosure (as through signs or appearances) against one's will{life moves on, through whatever deserts, and one must compose oneself to meet it, never betraying one's soul— Rose Macaulay
}{the stamp of desire on his face had betrayed him once and he did not want to be betrayed by disappointment or anger— Cheever
}Antonyms: conceal
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
