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closet queen

American  
[kloz-it kween] / ˈklɒz ɪt ˌkwin /

noun

Slang: 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.

closet queen British  

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

Etymology

Origin of closet queen

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

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.

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