closeted

[kloz-i-tid]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR closeted ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

functioning in private; secret; closet.

Origin of closeted

First recorded in 1675–85; closet + -ed²

Related formsun·clos·et·ed, adjective

closet

[kloz-it]

noun

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.

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)

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

1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French, equivalent to clos close (noun) + -et -et

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for closeted

incarcerate, apprehend, detain, jail, commit, hold, remand, cloister, sequester, ostracize, nab, constrain, closet, immure, ice, keep, trammel, intern, restrain, stockade

Examples from the Web for closeted

Contemporary Examples of closeted

He is expected to spend the next few days closeted with lawyers and advisers at his home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
From Playboy Prince to Dirty Old Man?
Tom Sykes
January 5, 2015
When Tonie Tobias started at Delta in 1996 she was shy and closeted.
How A Company’s Support of Gay Employees Helped One of Them To Come Out
December 24, 2014
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 Films
Marlow Stern
October 30, 2014
Flagrant anti-Semitism fell out of favor and was replaced by a closeted, unspoken bigotry.
Superman Is Jewish: The Hebrew Roots of America's Greatest Superhero
Rich Goldstein
August 16, 2014
Gay politicians were few and far between; gay celebrities were closeted.
Ten Reasons Women Are Losing While Gays Keep Winning
Jay Michaelson
July 6, 2014

Historical Examples of closeted

He and Lady Coryston were closeted together for nearly an hour.
The Coryston Family
Mrs. Humphry Ward
General Lebrun was said to be there, closeted with the mayor.
The Downfall
Emile Zola
Meantime he went out and was closeted again with Moltke and His Majesty.
Blood and Iron
John Hubert Greusel
Willy Ray was there, and had been for hours closeted with the sheriff's assistant.
The Shadow of a Crime
Hall Caine
For already her ladyship was closeted with Rotherby in her boudoir.
The Lion's Skin
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for closeted

closet

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 privatecloset meditations

(modifier) US and Canadian based on or devoted to theory; speculativea closet strategist

verb -ets, -eting or -eted

(tr) to shut up or confine in a small private room, esp for conference or meditation

Word Origin for closet

C14: from Old French, from clos enclosure; see close 1

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

Word Origin and History for closeted

closet

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

"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.