skeleton in the closet
Concealed family disgrace
A skeleton in the closet is a shameful secret from someone's past that they keep hidden.
The image suggests something dead and concealed, waiting to be discovered: Every family has a skeleton in the closet.
In British English, the phrase is often skeleton in the cupboard.
Politicians and public figures fear skeletons emerging during campaigns or confirmations.
- family secretsConcealed household truths
- dirty secretConcealed shameful information
- secretConcealed information
- hush hushExtremely secret, concealed
- shamePainful awareness of failure
dirty laundry · swept under the rug · cover up · buried past · hidden · scandal · regret · disgrace · undisclosed · misconduct · past · family history · black sheep · guilt · wrongdoing · remorse · sin · suppressed
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
skeleton in the closetopen book
One easily understood
full disclosure · cards on the table · nothing to hide · public knowledge · out in the open
skeleton in the closetbadge of honor
Source of earned pride
crowning achievement · claim to fame · feather in one's cap · bragging rights · glory days
skeleton in the closetclean record
Absence of prior offenses
good name · ace in the hole · trump card · selling point · recommendation
skeleton, closet, skeletal, skeletons, closets, closeted, closeting