come out of the closet

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

come out of the closet (third-person singular simple present comes out of the closet, present participle coming out of the closet, simple past came out of the closet, past participle come out of the closet)

  1. (intransitive, idiomatic, LGBTQ) To disclose to others about one's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity, where previously this had been kept secret.
    Synonym: come out
    Antonyms: remain in the closet, (dated) woodwork
    He came out of the closet as gay to his friends.
    • 1972, Lou Reed, “Make Up”, in Transformer:
      Now, we're coming out / Out of our closets / Out on the streets / Yeah, we're coming out
  2. (intransitive, idiomatic, informal, sometimes humorous) To self-disclose about one's minority or disapproved-of identity, belief, preference, etc.
    She finally came out of the closet to her religious family regarding her atheism.

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