Confidential means meant to be kept private and shown to almost nobody. A confidential report, strictly confidential, treat it as confidential.
Marking something confidential creates an expectation rather than a legal wall, and confidentiality clauses are what make it enforceable. In medicine and law, confidentiality is a professional duty with narrow exceptions. Note that confidential is not the same as anonymous: confidential means the name is known and protected, and anonymous means it is not known at all. Note also in confidence, and confidentiality agreement.
1adjectiveconfidentialMeant to be kept private and shown to almost nobody.
“Please keep this information confidential and don't share it with anyone outside the team.”
synonyms: private, restricted
confidential is a quality of privacy.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰeydʰ-
English, today
confidential
From cōnfīdentia + -al.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA