Revealing

How to spell revealing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce revealing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does revealing mean?

1. adjectiveMaking known something previously hidden, surprising, or significant.
2. adjectiveShowing more of the body than is usual or modest.

Revealing in a sentence

• The audit produced a revealing account of where the money had gone.

• The dress code banned anything too revealing for the office.

• Her diary offered a deeply revealing look at the family's struggles.

• She chose a less revealing outfit for the formal dinner.

Where does revealing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows out of the verb 'reveal', which English took from the Old French 'reveler' in the late 1300s. That French verb came in turn from the Latin 'revelare', built from the prefix 're-', here meaning 'back' or 'un-', and the verb 'velare', meaning 'to cover' or 'to veil'. The Latin 'velare' itself rests on the noun 'velum', meaning 'a veil' or 'a sail', so to reveal something was literally to draw back the veil that hid it. The '-ing' ending then turned the verb into an adjective describing anything that exposes what was concealed, whether a secret or simply the body. The hidden 'velum' root explains why the word still contains the 'veal' spelling that has nothing to do with meat, and remembering 'veil' under it helps fix the middle of the word.

How the word is built

• re- (back, un-)
• veal (from Latin velum: veil, covering)
• -ing (forming an adjective or present participle)