hidden past
Buried former life
A hidden past is a period in someone's history they've concealed from others—usually involving actions, relationships, or circumstances they consider shameful, dangerous, or incompatible with their current identity.
The phrase often appears in narratives of revelation: His hidden past as an informant finally caught up with him.
Someone's hidden past might include a criminal record, a former marriage, a different name, or involvement in events they'd rather forget.
- secretConcealed information
- dark secretConcealed shameful knowledge
- buriedPlaced beneath earth
- buried truthConcealed reality kept hidden
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
forgotten · mystery · cold case · shadows · skeleton · skeleton in the closet · closet · family secret · trauma · repressed · unearthed · discovered · whispered · scandal · cover up · shame · covered · silence
- backstoryorigin story, origin, background, history, flashback
- plot twistsplot twist, twist ending, surprise ending, unexpected turn, final reveal
- thrillerssuspense, thriller, nail-biter, page-turner, cliffhanger
- family dramafamily bonds, sibling rivalry, family reunion, kinship, family secret
- comic book plotsorigin story, secret identity, multiverse, resurrection, civil war
- Sensation FictionThe Moonstone, family secrets, secret marriage, serialized fiction
hidden pastopen book
One easily understood
public record · shared history · full disclosure · nothing to hide · tell-all
hidden pastclear history
hidden, past, hide, hides, hiding, hid, hiddenness, pass, passed