cloak

A loose piece of clothing worn over the shoulders and body, often with a hood.

• He wore a black cloak.
• She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders.
• The guards hung their wet cloaks by the fire.

Similar words: cape, mantle

Common phrases: wear a cloak, hooded cloak, black cloak

Something that covers or hides things, especially darkness, secrecy, or a false appearance.

• Mist spread like a cloak over the fields.
• They escaped under a cloak of darkness.
• A cloak of secrecy surrounded the negotiations.

How to use it: a cloak of something (The talks took place under a cloak of secrecy.)

Similar words: cover, veil

Common phrases: cloak of darkness, cloak of secrecy, under a cloak

To hide something or make it seem different from what it really is.

• Her smile cloaked her anger.
• The project was cloaked in secrecy.
• He tried to cloak his ambition with talk of public service.

How to use it: cloak something in something (They cloaked the decision in confusing language.); cloak something with something (He cloaked his disappointment with a smile.)

Similar words: hide, conceal, mask

Opposites: reveal, expose

Common phrases: cloak something in secrecy, cloak true intentions

To cover someone or something with clothing or another layer.

• Snow cloaked the fields.
• She cloaked the child in warm wool.
• Clouds had cloaked the mountain by evening.

How to use it: cloak someone/something in something (Fog cloaked the valley in gray mist.)

Similar words: cover, envelop, shroud

Opposites: uncover

Common phrases: cloak something in mist, cloak someone in silk

To make something, or become, impossible to see using imagined advanced technology.

• The ship can cloak itself.
• We cloaked before the enemy arrived.
• The device cloaks nearby objects from view.

Similar words: turn invisible

Common phrases: cloak a ship, cloak the spaceship