locked room
Enclosed space, secured shut
A locked room is a space secured from the inside, making entry or exit seemingly impossible.
The term is most familiar from mystery fiction, where a locked room mystery presents a crime—usually murder—committed in a sealed space with no apparent way for the perpetrator to have entered or escaped.
The puzzle lies in explaining the impossible.
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- impossible crimeAct with no evident perpetrator
- sealedClosed to prevent entry
- trappedUnable to escape
- escapeFlight from captivity
key · door · dead bolt · detective · private eye · puzzle · fair play · claustrophobic · confined · secret · hidden · bolted · windowless · isolated · prison · cell · vault · chamber
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- mysteriesmystery, enigma, enigmas, puzzle, riddle
- mystery elementsclues, red herring, suspense, plot twist, misdirection
- sleuthingclues, detective work, evidence gathering, fingerprints, footprints
- thriller tropesplot twist, red herring, cliffhanger, whodunit, femme fatale
locked roomopen door
Barrier removed for entry
unlocked door · foyer · vestibule · lobby · public space
locked roomopen space
Unobstructed outdoor area
open air · public square · open field · courtyard · plaza
locked roompublic space
Area open to everyone
common area · open house · free zone · public forum · open meeting
locked, room, lock, locks, locking, locker, lockers, lockable, unlock