laying bare
Stripping away concealment
Laying bare is exposing something hidden or concealed—revealing what was covered, protected, or kept secret.
The phrase works both literally and figuratively: The excavation laid bare ancient foundations, The investigation laid bare years of corruption.
To lay something bare is to strip away whatever obscures it, leaving it fully visible or understood.
- exposingMaking something known
- revealingMaking known what's hidden
- uncoveringRevealing something hidden
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
- candorUnguarded truthfulness
airing dirty laundry · raw honesty · disclosure · coming clean · exposure · stripping · denuding · transparency · nothing to hide · unmasking · vulnerability · truth · catharsis · divulgation · truth-telling · opening up · accountability · scrutiny
- uncoveringunearthing, exposing, revealing, disclosure, unveiling
- Revealing truthsrevelation, confession, disclosure, exposure, unmasking
- Russian Formalismdefamiliarization, estrangement, foregrounding
- disclosurerevealing, disclosing, disclosure, disclose, divulge
- explainingexplaining, clarifying, elaborating, elucidating, expounding
- removalremove, elimination, delete, erasing, erase
laying bareconcealing
Keeping something secret
hiding · covering up · obscuring · masking · disguising
laying bareshielding
Protecting from harm
protecting · safeguarding · sheltering · guarding · covering
laying bareobfuscating
Making unclear or confusing
obscuring · muddying · clouding · complicating · confusing
bare, lay, layer, barely, layers, laying, laid, layered, lays