closeted
- functioning in private; secret; closet.
Origin of closeted
closet
- 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.
- water closet.
- 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.
- to shut up in a private room for a conference, interview, etc. (usually used in the passive voice): The secretary of state was closeted with the senator for three hours in a tense session.
Origin of closet
Related Words
incarcerateapprehenddetainjailcommitholdremandcloistersequesterostracizenabconstrainclosetimmureicekeeptrammelinternrestrainstockadeExamples from the Web for closeted
Contemporary Examples
He is expected to spend the next few days closeted with lawyers and advisers at his home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
When Tonie Tobias started at Delta in 1996 she was shy and closeted.
And the geek, Lionel (Tyler James Williams), is a closeted gay who finds himself alienated by blacks and whites.
‘Dear White People’: How An Ex-Publicist’s Twitter Became One of the Year’s Most Important FilmsMarlow Stern
October 30, 2014
Flagrant anti-Semitism fell out of favor and was replaced by a closeted, unspoken bigotry.
Gay politicians were few and far between; gay celebrities were closeted.
Historical Examples
He and Lady Coryston were closeted together for nearly an hour.
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
General Lebrun was said to be there, closeted with the mayor.
The DownfallEmile Zola
Meantime he went out and was closeted again with Moltke and His Majesty.
Blood and IronJohn Hubert Greusel
Willy Ray was there, and had been for hours closeted with the sheriff's assistant.
The Shadow of a CrimeHall Caine
For already her ladyship was closeted with Rotherby in her boudoir.
The Lion's SkinRafael Sabatini
closet
- a small cupboard or recess
- a small private room
- short for water closet
- (modifier) private or secret
- (modifier) suited or appropriate for use in privatecloset meditations
- (modifier) US and Canadian based on or devoted to theory; speculativea closet strategist
- (tr) to shut up or confine in a small private room, esp for conference or meditation
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for closeted
closet
n.
late 14c., from Old French closet "small enclosure, private room," diminutive of clos "enclosure," from Latin clausum "closed space, enclosure, confinement," from neuter past participle of claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). In Matt. vi:6 it renders Latin cubiculum "bedchamber, bedroom," Greek tamieion "chamber, inner chamber, secret room;" thus originally in English "a private room for study or prayer." Modern sense of "small side-room for storage" is first recorded 1610s.
The adjective is from 1680s, "private, secluded;" meaning "secret, unknown" recorded from 1952, first of alcoholism, but by 1970s used principally of homosexuality; the phrase come out of the closet "admit something openly" first recorded 1963, and lent new meanings to the word out.
closet
v.
"shut up as in a closet" (originally usually for purposes of concealment or private consultation), 1680s, from closet (v.). Related: Closeted; closeting.
Idioms and Phrases with closeted
closet
see come out of the closet; skeleton in the closet.