closet queen

[ kloz-it kween ]
See synonyms for closet queen on Thesaurus.com
nounSlang: Disparaging and Offensive.
  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man who denies his sexual orientation to himself or keeps it hidden from others.

Origin of closet queen

1
First recorded in 1965–70; closet (in the sense “secret”) + queen (in the sense of “gay man”)

Words Nearby closet queen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for closet queen

closet queen

noun
  1. informal a man who is homosexual but does not admit the fact

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012