closet

[ kloz-it ]

noun

1. a small room, enclosed recess, or cabinet for storing clothing, food, utensils, etc.
2. a small private room, especially one used for prayer, meditation, etc.
3. 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.

4. water closet.

adjective

1. private; secluded.
2. suited for use or enjoyment in privacy:

   closet reflections; closet prayer.

3. engaged in private study or speculation; speculative; unpractical:

   a closet thinker with no practical experience.

4. being or functioning as such in private; secret:

   a closet anarchist.

verb (used with object)

1. 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.

closet

/ ˈklɒzɪt /

noun

1. a small cupboard or recess
2. a small private room
3. short for water closet
4. modifier private or secret
5. modifier suited or appropriate for use in private

   closet meditations

6. modifier based on or devoted to theory; speculative

   a closet strategist

verb

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of closet¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of closet¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see come out of the closet ; skeleton in the closet .

Example Sentences

Babitz’s sister, Mirandi, had summoned Anolik to Eve’s apartment, informing her that, tucked deep into a hall closet, there existed a number of sealed boxes.

From Los Angeles Times

Snell pulled a coat from her father’s closet that Rona wears back home and the designer borrowed from Orkney residents: “Rona’s wellies were given to us by one of the women on the farm, and I bought her a new pair as a thank-you.”

From Los Angeles Times

Maybe it was languishing at the back of a Silver Lake dad’s closet.

From Los Angeles Times

Implicit in many discussions about "unity" was a hope that all those liberals would shut up, bend the knee, go back into the closet, or whatever else it takes to hide or eradicate difference.

From Salon

As days went by and dirt, dog waste and grime piled up in the Produce Hotel in Skid Row, Jermaine Staley broke into the janitorial closet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cabinet
• container
• locker
• room
• vault
• wardrobe