privy

Allowed to know private or secret information.

• I was not privy to their plans.
• She is privy to confidential information.
• Were you privy to the discussions about the sale?

How to use it: be privy to something (Only a few staff members were privy to the plans.)

Similar words: informed, in the know

Opposites: unaware, uninformed

Common phrases: privy to something, privy to secrets, privy to discussions

A toilet outside a house, often in a small separate building.

• The privy stood behind the cottage.
• We followed a muddy path to the wooden privy.
• The old farmhouses had no bathrooms, only outdoor privies.

Similar words: outhouse, outdoor toilet, latrine

Common phrases: outdoor privy, wooden privy, garden privy

A room containing a toilet.

• The privy was upstairs.
• A narrow door led to the indoor privy.
• The house had two privies but no room for bathing.

Similar words: toilet, lavatory, toilet room

Common phrases: indoor privy, small privy, privy door

The bowl or seat that people use when getting rid of waste from their bodies.

• The privy had a wooden seat.
• A cracked porcelain privy stood in the corner.
• They replaced the old privy with a modern toilet.

Similar words: toilet, lavatory, water closet

Common phrases: porcelain privy, privy seat, flush the privy

Someone legally connected with another person's rights or interests, though not directly involved in the original agreement or case.

• The heir was a privy in estate.
• The judgment bound the parties and their privies.
• A privy may acquire rights through a person who signed the contract.

How to use it: a privy to someone (The court treated the heir as a privy to the original owner.)

Common phrases: privy in estate, privy in law, party or privy