Meanings
- idiomaticIn private; in one's private life; lacking (normal) public disclosure, in camera.
What you do with your girlfriend behind closed doors is none of my business.
3 more examples
Miss Maudie shook her head. “If he’s not [crazy] he should be by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets-”
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLCA brilliant piece of undercover reporting revealed extraordinary details of how senior City executives behave behind closed doors.
2018 January 25, Amelia Gentleman, “Men-only clubs and menace: how the establishment maintains male power”, in the GuardianA major problem has been the making of bad decisions behind closed doors.
2021 December 29, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Problems galore in 2021...”, in RAIL, number 947, page 3Synonyms: closed door, with closed doors
- idiomatichobbiesWithout public spectators.
Libya's opening home match in the World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon will be played at a neutral venue and behind closed doors, FIFA said on Friday. https://web.archive.org/web/20150611004158/http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/04/20/soccer-world-libya-idINDEE83J07G20120420
- idiomaticstored in a hidden place.
In other research, scientists have found that people who kept cereal out in the open were often about 20 pounds heavier than people who kept cereal behind closed doors.
2015 May 18, Angus Chen, How We Store Food At Home Could Be Linked To How Much We Eat
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseIn private; in one's private life; lacking (normal) public disclosure, in camera.
Translations
Arabic خلف الأبواب المغلقة
- خلف الأبواب المغلقة (ḵalfa l-ʔabwābi l-muḡlaqa)in private
Czech s vyloučením veřejnosti
- s vyloučením veřejnostiin private
Dutch achter gesloten deuren, binnenskamers
- achter gesloten deurenin private
- binnenskamersin private
Finnish suljettujen ovien takana, suljetuin ovin
- suljettujen ovien takanain private
- suljetuin ovinin private
French à huis clos, en privé
- à huis closin private
- en privéin private
German hinter verschlossenen Türen
- hinter verschlossenen Türenin private
Greek κεκλεισμένων των θυρών
- κεκλεισμένων των θυρών (kekleisménon ton thyrón)in private
Hebrew בִּדְלָתַיִם סְגוּרוֹת
- בִּדְלָתַיִם סְגוּרוֹת (bidlatáyim sgurót)in private
Hungarian zárt ajtók mögött, a négy fal között
- zárt ajtók mögöttin private
- a négy fal közöttin private
Icelandic á bak við luktar dyr
- á bak við luktar dyrin private
Italian a porte chiuse
- a porte chiusein private
Lithuanian už uždarų durų
- už uždarų durųin private
Polish za zamkniętymi drzwiami
- za zamkniętymi drzwiamiin private
Portuguese à porta fechada, a portas fechadas
- à porta fechadain private
- a portas fechadasin private
- entre quatro paredesin private
Russian за закры́тыми дверя́ми
- за закры́тыми дверя́ми (za zakrýtymi dverjámi)in private
Spanish a puerta cerrada
- a puerta cerradain private
Swedish bakom lyckta dörrar
- bakom lyckta dörrarin private
Ukrainian за закри́тими двери́ма, за зачи́неними двери́ма
- за закри́тими двери́ма (za zakrýtymy dverýma)in private
- за зачи́неними двери́ма (za začýnenymy dverýma)in private
Cite this entry
behind closed doors. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20closed%20doors
“behind closed doors.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20closed%20doors. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “behind closed doors,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20closed%20doors.
Source: behind closed doors on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.