closet
Americannoun
-
closets
plural
-
a small room, enclosed recess, or cabinet for storing clothing, food, utensils, etc.
-
a small private room, especially one used for prayer, meditation, etc.
-
a state or condition of secrecy or carefully guarded privacy.
Some conservatives remain in the closet except on election day. Gay liberation has encouraged many gay people to come out of the closet.
adjective
-
private; secluded.
-
suited for use or enjoyment in privacy.
closet reflections; closet prayer.
-
engaged in private study or speculation; speculative; unpractical.
a closet thinker with no practical experience.
-
being or functioning as such in private; secret.
a closet anarchist.
verb (used with object)
-
closets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
closeted,
past participle, past
-
closeting
present participle
noun
-
a small cupboard or recess
-
a small private room
-
short for water closet
-
(modifier) private or secret
-
(modifier) suited or appropriate for use in private
closet meditations
-
(modifier) based on or devoted to theory; speculative
a closet strategist
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
closetsimple
-
closetssimple
-
have closetedperfect
-
has closetedperfect
-
am closetingprogressive
-
are closetingprogressive
-
is closetingprogressive
-
have been closetingperfect progressive
-
has been closetingperfect progressive
Past
-
closetedsimple
-
had closetedperfect
-
was closetingprogressive
-
were closetingprogressive
-
had been closetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of closet
1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French, equivalent to clos close (noun) + -et -et
Vocabulary lists containing closet
List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 2
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Parton preferred to let her closet make the statements, while quietly building a kind of everybody-love-everybody progressivism that promoted equality and kindness while remaining mostly off-the-record.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
And yet I now had a wedding dress in my closet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
It is still a pleasant surprise when I open the door to my shop or office or closet to find a tidy workbench or desk—or to see the actual closet floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
There is a particular brand of confidence required to assure party leaders and voters that one has no more skeletons in one’s closet, as Platner did before several more disquieting allegations emerged.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
Once more she went to her closet, but this time she came out with a plastic steering wheel.
From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan
It is in showers, behind walls, and deep in linen closets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Then there are the two walk-in closets, one of which features a sizable island at its center, ideal for storing accessories.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Thirty years ago L.A. firefighters found children sleeping in closets and babies snoozing in dresser drawers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
At the time, the unit had three wood-burning fireplaces, 21 closets, a private elevator, a chef’s kitchen, a private library, and a formal dining room.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
He looked in one of the upstairs closets for the tent he’d bought a few years back.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
We wanted to be mysterious and be closeted, and Katie was the one who encouraged us not to, and to just be ourselves.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“It kind of siphoned all of that pent-up, closeted stuff that you hold back, that you couldn’t freely express,” she said.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
For LGB dissenters, many of whom grew up closeted and relied on acceptance among their peers, being excoriated by their gay and lesbian communities is particularly painful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
It’s three years before the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is issued by the Department of Defense to halt harassment and discrimination of closeted gay and bisexual service men and women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
I was about to crack a joke about her being a closeted creeper when I saw her face.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
That there exists so recent and clear an example of purposeful Hollywood closeting helps explain, to a certain extent, how these narratives can take hold.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2019
If nothing else, it’s smarter closeting strategy—people are going to get a lot more suspicious if every time they see him with you, he starts stammering and shoving you out of view.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2016
Soon he was closeting himself in his room listening raptly and endlessly to John Gielgud reciting Clarence’s speech from “Richard III,” desperately attempting to obliterate his Jersey accent.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2012
“We have no visibility, people are dying, and this whole world is just closeting everything.”
From Washington Post
No more closeting;, she could have one part of Old Chao, Janis and the children another.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
