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Synonyms

dirty linen

American  

noun

  1. personal or private matters that could cause embarrassment if made public.

    You didn't have to air our dirty linen to all your friends!

Etymology

Origin of dirty linen

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

Another complication for your friend: The probate process is public, the legal equivalent of washing your dirty linen in the front yard.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 3, 2025

"The army is known for not wanting to wash its dirty linen in public," Hadiza Ado, founder of Women and Children Initiative, told the BBC.

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2024

"It is still very much a work in progress. An awful lot has been said between the two. So much dirty linen has been put out in the public, so to speak."

From Fox News • Jul. 2, 2021

Don’t wash your dirty linen in a watched pot.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 2, 2019

The large woman was apologetic, as though it embarrassed her for a stranger to see Mississippi’s dirty linen.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

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.