revealing
Britishadjective
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of significance or import
a very revealing experience
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showing or designed to show more of the body than is usual or conventional
a revealing costume
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Use the adjective revealing to describe disclosing something that was hidden, either literally or figuratively. If you ask people if they've ever cheated on a test, you may get revealing answers that tell you whether the person is honest or not. Revealing comes from the Latin word revelare, which literally means "unveil," and that word has its roots in re-, meaning "the opposite of," and velare meaning "to cover or veil." It is little wonder that the adjective revealing is often used to describe clothing that leaves little to the imagination. If your daughter's date comes to the door in a revealing shirt with almost every button undone, you might ask him to put on a jacket or else he'll be sure to catch cold.
Vocabulary lists containing revealing
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
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"The Dead and the Gone" Susan Beth Pfeffer, Chapters 11–14
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hailed by Rolling Stone as “the rawest, most revealing music documentary in years,” the film is so unflinching that Perry remained backstage while it played at Tribeca.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Professor Capp highlights a revealing domestic story involving Thomas Ellwood and his father in 1659.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
Carousel finds her tentatively revealing flaws to a new lover.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Are AI companies revealing what percentage of enterprise revenue comes from subsidized channels or joint ventures with private equity firms?
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
And though most of its face looked like a human’s, the right cheek and one section of the forehead was pulled away, revealing computer chips and colorfully coated wires.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
