revealing
Americanadjective
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eye-opening or enlightening; disclosing much.
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(of a garment) showing areas of the body that are usually kept covered.
adjective
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of significance or import
a very revealing experience
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showing or designed to show more of the body than is usual or conventional
a revealing costume
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Use the adjective revealing to describe disclosing something that was hidden, either literally or figuratively. If you ask people if they've ever cheated on a test, you may get revealing answers that tell you whether the person is honest or not. Revealing comes from the Latin word revelare, which literally means "unveil," and that word has its roots in re-, meaning "the opposite of," and velare meaning "to cover or veil." It is little wonder that the adjective revealing is often used to describe clothing that leaves little to the imagination. If your daughter's date comes to the door in a revealing shirt with almost every button undone, you might ask him to put on a jacket or else he'll be sure to catch cold.
Vocabulary lists containing revealing
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
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"The Dead and the Gone" Susan Beth Pfeffer, Chapters 11–14
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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.
He would then display the bodies in lifelike poses, revealing their muscles, skeletons and internal organs in exhibitions that drew millions worldwide but also occasionally faced calls for bans.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Spotify has also acknowledged the problem, revealing last September that it had removed more than 75 million "spammy tracks" over the previous 12 months.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Looking over transcripts of her interviews, she noticed details that previously had seemed to her unimportant, that now cast a revealing light on emotions and events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But then a beat later, she laughs it off and dives in, remembering that her husband showed her an Instagram post from Nolan’s set revealing how the movie’s Cyclops was, in fact, a puppet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The shelf swings open like a door, revealing a set of stairs that go downward.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
