keep it in the family
keep it in the family verb: to restrict knowledge or information to only the members of a family or another small, intimate group.
Verb
keep it in the family (third-person singular simple present keeps it in the family, present participle keeping it in the family, simple past and past participle kept it in the family)
- To restrict knowledge or information to only the members of a family or another small, intimate group.
- Near-synonyms: keep one's own counsel, keep one's mouth shut, STFU; see also Thesaurus:be quiet
- Synonyms:
- keep one's own counsel, keep one's mouth shut, STFU
- Antonyms:
- air one's dirty laundry in public
- To remain loyal to one's family; to retain family ownership of a business for long period of time.
Synonyms of keep it in the family
Antonyms
Forms of keep it in the family
| third-person singular present | keeps it in the family |
|---|---|
| present participle | keeping it in the family |
| past participle | kept it in the family |
| past | kept it in the family |
Questions about keep it in the family
- What does keep it in the family mean?
- Keep it in the family means to restrict knowledge or information to only the members of a family or another small, intimate group.
- What part of speech is keep it in the family?
- Keep it in the family is a verb.
- What is the past tense of keep it in the family?
- The past tense of keep it in the family is kept it in the family.
Words near keep it in the family in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: keep it in the family (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “keep it in the family.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keep_it_in_the_family. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.