cloak
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to cover with or as if with a cloak.
She arrived at the opera cloaked in green velvet.
-
to hide; conceal.
The mission was cloaked in mystery.
noun
-
a wraplike outer garment fastened at the throat and falling straight from the shoulders
-
something that covers or conceals
verb
-
to cover with or as if with a cloak
-
to hide or disguise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cloaksimple
-
cloakssimple
-
have cloakedperfect
-
has cloakedperfect
-
am cloakingprogressive
-
are cloakingprogressive
-
is cloakingprogressive
-
have been cloakingperfect progressive
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has been cloakingperfect progressive
Past
-
cloakedsimple
-
had cloakedperfect
-
was cloakingprogressive
-
were cloakingprogressive
-
had been cloakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cloak
1175–1225; Middle English cloke (< Old French ) < Medieval Latin cloca, variant of clocca bell-shaped cape, bell; see clock 1
Explanation
A cloak is anything that conceals or hides something, like an over-sized, dark raincoat you wear when you don't want your friends to see you're going to the movies without them. As a noun, a cloak is usually a loose piece of clothing that you wear over your other clothes, like a cape or a gown. It especially refers to an outer garment that you might wear while traveling in order to protect your outfit or to conceal your identity. As a verb, to cloak is to conceal or hide something. If you were a famous person who wanted to go out alone, you might cloak your identity with a cloak.
Vocabulary lists containing cloak
The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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"Encounter"
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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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.
See Examples For:
But his intimidating onyx armor obscures all that, much in the way Darth Vader’s helmet and cloak overcompensate for his shriveled form.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
They wanted to be able to cloak this in the air of legitimacy, when it has nothing to do with what a real lawsuit would look like.
From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026
“I think that irrational exuberance that we saw in the dot com era … is just window dressing to cloak what, to me, is normalizing an addictive behavior in our society,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
Dancers strip an old flower seller of her cloak, revealing Catrina, the Keeper of the Dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
He tugged his cloak down over his shoulders.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Throughout the holy city, Iranian flags can be seen printed on white pilgrims' garments, cloaks, bags and buses.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Here, the evildoers receive sumptuous cloaks along with their metaphorical daggers.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026
Oaks support more than 1000 species, while maples offer food to over 300, including swallowtails and mourning cloaks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
These thick cloaks of dust might dim the stars' light to the point of utter undetectability.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2025
For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other’s chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The city has been awash with fans cloaked in black - wearing T-shirts in tribute to Osbourne or Black Sabbath - visiting sites in the city most connected to the heavy metal icon.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
A big problem was that early Mac sales success cloaked some of the severe technical problems that almost led to the company’s failure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
"We shouldn't just think dinosaurs are mammals cloaked in scales and feathers," Holtz said.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2026
The coffins of the victims were cloaked in Guatemalan blue-and-white flags and were flanked by colleagues in uniform, standing to attention.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
Each of the hobbits saw in his mind a vision of the cloaked and booted Riders.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
That amount was the subject of a Senate investigation into whether Black had intentionally overpaid Epstein, cloaking money paid for personal reasons in the guise of financial services.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Stirred into the steaming ditalini, the yolk turned silken and rich, cloaking the broth in the sort of luxurious texture that makes you briefly forget modern life altogether.
From Salon ● May 12, 2026
I’m including the comments in full because of how out of character they were for a Fed chair best known for cloaking his future decisions:
From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026
And don’t be surprised if that picture is cloaking something behind its frame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2024
Odysseus with massive hand drew his rich mantle down over his brow, cloaking his face with it, to make the Phaiakians miss the secret tears that started to his eyes.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
