skeleton in closet
Buried family disgrace
A skeleton in the closet is a shameful secret from someone's past that they keep hidden: Every family has a skeleton in the closet.
The image suggests something that would cause embarrassment or scandal if discovered—an old disgrace tucked away where no one can see it.
Also skeleton in the cupboard in British English.
- secretConcealed information
- family secretHidden domestic truth
- hiddenKept out of sight
- buried secretConcealed truth kept hidden
- shamePainful awareness of failure
scandal · dirty laundry · buried · dark past · past · bones · guilt · concealed · dark · family · hush hush · reveal · come to light · disgrace · truth · haunting · discovered · embarrassment
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
- death idiomsdead end, dead serious, dead wrong, dead tired, dead weight
- familymother, father, parents, siblings, parent
- literary idiomscatch-22, red herring, white whale, chapter and verse, by the book
skeleton in closetpublic knowledge
Facts anyone can access
open book · common knowledge · full disclosure · out in the open · nothing to hide
skeleton in closetbadge of honor
Source of earned pride
point of pride · claim to fame · crowning achievement · feather in one's cap · heroic deed
skeleton in closethumble brag
Boast dressed as complaint
bragging rights · boast · public confession · tell-all · coming clean
skeleton, closet, skeletal, skeletons, closets, closeted, closeting