closet (redirected from closeted)

come out of the closet

1. to talk in public about something which you kept secret in the past because you were embarrassed about it. It's time hairy women came out of the closet. It's a problem that affects all women to a greater or lesser degree.

2. to tell people that you are homosexual (= sexually attracted to people of the same sex as you) so that it is no longer a secret. He finally decided to come out of the closet so his mother would stop asking him why he wasn't married.

See also: come

in the closet

come out of the closet - to tell people that you are homosexual (= sexually attracted to people of the same sex as you) so that it is no longer a secret. You can't live your life in the closet. At some stage you've got to come out and admit you're gay.

a skeleton in the/your cupboard (British & Australian, American)

an embarrassing secret. If you want to be a successful politician, you can't afford to have too many skeletons in your cupboard.

See also: cupboard, skeleton

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come out of the closet

1. to be willing to talk in public about something that was kept secret. The biggest surprise was that so many viewers came out of the closet and publicly supported the show.

2. to announce that you are attracted to people of the same sex. Not all gays come out of the closet, either because they don't want to or don't need to.

See also: come

a skeleton in the/someone's closet

a secret that would cause embarrassment if it were known. People almost always have skeletons in their closets, parts of their lives they don't want to reveal.

See also: skeleton