disclosure

disclosure — noun

1. the act of giving out information that was previously unknown or kept private, o

1.nounB2
Definition

the act of giving out information that was previously unknown or kept private, or a specific piece of information that is given out in this way

Example

The company's disclosure of its financial records surprised many investors in the market.

disclosure + of + noun phrase (financial records)

Leila's disclosure about the family secret changed how her relatives understood their past.

Common collocations
  • full disclosure
  • public disclosure
  • financial disclosure
  • disclosure of information
  • make a disclosure
  • require disclosure
Synonyms
  • revelation

    stronger, often used for surprising or dramatic news

  • exposure

    suggests revealing something hidden that should be known, often negative

  • announcement

    neutral and planned, not necessarily about secret information

Antonyms
  • concealment

    the act of keeping information hidden

  • secrecy

    the state of keeping something unknown

Grammar Patterns

disclosure + of + noun

full disclosure

make a disclosure

Usage Note

Common in formal, legal, business, and news contexts. In informal conversation, verbs like 'tell' or 'reveal' are often more natural than the noun 'disclosure'.

Common Mistakes

He made a disclosure about his feelings to his friend.' (too formal for casual talk)
He told his friend how he felt.
Use simpler verbs for everyday situations; 'disclosure' sounds stiff in personal contexts.

Word family

  • disclose
    verbB2
  • disclosed
    adjectiveB2
  • undisclosed
    adjectiveC1
  • nondisclosure
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Revelation is the closest synonym but often carries a sense of dramatic or surprising news — for example, a revelation about a celebrity's hidden past. Exposure suggests making something secret public, frequently with negative overtones of wrongdoing being uncovered, such as exposure of corruption in a government office. Announcement is more neutral and refers to planned, official sharing of information, like an announcement of a new company policy. Publication specifically means making information available in print or digital form, for instance publication of research results. Disclosure is the broadest of the four, used across legal, financial, corporate, and personal contexts for making any previously private information known.

revelation ↗exposure ↗announcement ↗publication ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • information
  • details
  • records
  • documents
  • risks
  • facts
  • results
  • findings

Phrases

  • full disclosure
  • public disclosure
  • financial disclosure
  • mandatory disclosure

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Disclosure comes from the verb disclose, which entered English from Old French desclore. The root breaks into Latin dis- ('apart, away') and claudere ('to close'), so the original literal meaning was 'to unclose' — to open what was shut. The noun disclosure formed in English around the 1500s by adding the suffix -ure.