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keep one's own counsel

keep one's own counsel verb: to keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.

Verb

keep one's own counsel (third-person singular simple present keeps one's own counsel, present participle keeping one's own counsel, simple past and past participle kept one's own counsel)

  1. To keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.
    • Near-synonyms: keep one's cards close to one's chest, keep it in the family, keep one's mouth shut; see also Thesaurus:be quiet
    • Who wills, may keep his own counsel—be his own secret's sovereign.1853 January, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Cloud”, in Villette. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 256

Synonyms of keep one's own counsel

Forms of keep one's own counsel

third-person singular presentkeeps one's own counsel
present participlekeeping one's own counsel
past participlekept one's own counsel
pastkept one's own counsel

Questions about keep one's own counsel

What does keep one's own counsel mean?
Keep one's own counsel means to keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.
What part of speech is keep one's own counsel?
Keep one's own counsel is a verb.
What is the past tense of keep one's own counsel?
The past tense of keep one's own counsel is kept one's own counsel.

Words near keep one's own counsel in the dictionary

  1. keep one's lips sealed
  2. keep one's mouth shut
  3. keep one's nerve
  4. keep one's nose clean
  5. keep one's options open
  6. keep one's own counsel
  7. keep one's pants on
  8. keep one's peace
  9. keep one's pecker up
  10. keep one's powder dry
  11. keep one's shirt on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keep one's own counsel (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.

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