classified
Americanadjective
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arranged or distributed in classes or according to class.
We plan to review all the classified specimens in the laboratory.
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designating the part or parts of a publication that contain advertisements or lists arranged by category.
The classified section of our little local newspaper is full of ads for garage sales and cleaning ladies.
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(of information, a document, etc.)
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available only to authorized persons.
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bearing the designation classified.
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confidential or secret.
The firm's promotional budget for next year is classified information.
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identified as belonging to a specific group or category, as one to which benefits or restrictions apply.
Classified buildings are eligible for state-funded restoration. The bank has a list of classified customers to whom it will not make large loans.
noun
adjective
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arranged according to some system of classification
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government (of information) not available to people outside a restricted group, esp for reasons of national security
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(of information) closely concealed or secret
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(of advertisements in newspapers, etc) arranged according to type
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(of newspapers) containing sports results, esp football results
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(of British roads) having a number in the national road system. If the number is preceded by an M the road is a motorway, if by an A it is a first-class road, and if by a B it is a secondary road
Usage
What does classified mean? Classified means categorized or labeled in some way.Classified has several different meanings that all have to do with things being sorted in a certain way. It is commonly used to mean secret or confidential, as in that information is classified.Example: The agency keeps a list of people who have been classified as security risks.
Other Word Forms
- nonclassified adjective
- superclassified adjective
- well-classified adjective
Etymology
Origin of classified
First recorded in 1885–90; 1940–45 classified for def. 3; classify + -ed 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
War markets have been a particularly sensitive topic for prediction markets, given that information about strikes against foreign adversaries could rely on highly classified information, and those bets could put lives in danger.
When the Pentagon’s Michael describes how Anthropic’s AI is being used, it sounds familiar to anyone using Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT—except running on classified information—as the large organization looks to be more efficient.
The precise size of the U.S. stock of air-defense interceptors—what the Pentagon calls magazine depth—is classified.
Warnings about xAI’s safety and reliability preceded the Pentagon’s decision to approve Grok for use in classified settings.
“In carrying out such bets, relying on secret and classified information, there is a real security risk to IDF activities and state security,” the Israel Police said in a statement External link.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
