ciphernoun
uk/ˈsaɪ.fər/us/ˈsaɪ.fɚ/cipher noun (SECRET LANGUAGE)
[ C or U ] also cypher a system of writing that prevents most people from understanding the message:
The message was written in cipher.
Synonym
code
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Codes & decoding
- code
- code word
- coded
- cryptography
- cypher
- decipher
- decode
- decrypt
- encode
- encrypt
- passcode
- QR code
- scramble
- scrambler
- unscramble
cipher noun (PERSON)
[ C ] formal disapproving a person or group of people without power, but used by others for their own purposes, or someone who is not important:
The interim government is a mere cipher for military rule.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People of little importance
- a cog in a/the machine idiom
- be past your sell-by date idiom
- cannon fodder
- inferior
- lightweight
- mediocrity
- minnow
- nothing
- past
- pawn
- pipsqueak
- plaything
- poor
- poor relation idiom
- pygmy
- unknown
- waste
- waste of space idiom
- waster
- worm
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cipher noun (NUMBER)
[ C ] US old-fashioned a zero:
If you have no children, enter a cipher in the space on the form.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Numbers: cardinal, including nought & zero
- bn
- eighteen
- eighty
- eleven
- fifty
- five
- fourteen
- giga-
- googol
- hundred
- milliard
- million
- O, o
- oh
- six
- ten
- thousand
- trillion
- twelve
- uni
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