come out of the closet

verb

To disclose to others about one's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity, where previously this had been kept secret.

“He came out of the closet as gay to his friends.”

Similar
come outout
Opposite
remain in the closetwoodwork
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Meanings

verbcome 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)

present singular third person comes out of the closet · participle present coming out of the closet · past came out of the closet

  1. idiomaticintransitiveTo disclose to others about one's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity, where previously this had been kept secret.

    He came out of the closet as gay to his friends.

    1 more example

    Now, we're coming out / Out of our closets / Out on the streets / Yeah, we're coming out

    1972, Lou Reed, “Make Up”, in Transformer

    Synonyms: come out · Antonyms: remain in the closet, woodwork

  2. humorousidiomaticinformalintransitivesometimesTo 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.

  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see come, out, of, the, closet.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo disclose to others about one's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity, where previously this had been kept secret.

Similar
come out
Opposite
remain in the closetwoodwork

More synonyms by meaning

verbto state openly and publicly one's homosexuality

Similar
outcome out
Broader
unwrapdiscloselet on
Also see
come outout

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Catalan sortir de l'armari, eixir de l'armari
  • sortir de l'armarito self-disclose about one's identity
  • eixir de l'armarito self-disclose about one's identity
Chinese Cantonese 出櫃 /出柜
  • 出櫃 /出柜 (ceot¹ gwai⁶)to self-disclose about one's identity
Chinese Mandarin 出櫃 /出柜
  • 出櫃 /出柜 (chūguì)to self-disclose about one's identity
Danish komme ud af skabet, springe ud
  • komme ud af skabetto self-disclose about one's identity
  • springe udto self-disclose about one's identity
Dutch uit de kast komen
  • uit de kast komento self-disclose about one's identity
Esperanto elŝrankiĝi
  • elŝrankiĝito self-disclose about one's identity
Estonian kapist välja tulema
  • kapist välja tulemato self-disclose about one's identity
Finnish tulla ulos kaapista
  • tulla ulos kaapistato self-disclose about one's identity
French sortir du placard, faire son coming out
  • sortir du placardto self-disclose about one's identity
  • faire son coming outto self-disclose about one's identity
German sich outen
  • sich outento self-disclose about one's identity
Greek εκδηλώνομαι
  • εκδηλώνομαι (ekdilónomai)to self-disclose about one's identity
Hungarian előbújik, coming outol
  • előbújikto self-disclose about one's identity
  • coming outolto self-disclose about one's identity
Indonesian melela
  • melelato self-disclose about one's identity
Irish tar amach
  • tar amachto self-disclose about one's identity
Italian dichiararsi, uscire allo scoperto
  • dichiararsito self-disclose about one's identity
  • uscire allo scopertoto self-disclose about one's identity
Japanese カミングアウトする
  • カミングアウトする (kamingu-auto suru)to self-disclose about one's identity
Norwegian Bokmål komme ut av skapet
  • komme ut av skapetto self-disclose about one's identity
Polish ujawniać (się), ujawnić (się)
  • ujawniać (się)to self-disclose about one's identity
  • ujawnić (się)to self-disclose about one's identity
Portuguese sair do armário
  • sair do armárioto self-disclose about one's identity
Russian выходи́ть из подпо́лья, вы́йти из подпо́лья
  • выходи́ть из подпо́лья (vyxodítʹ iz podpólʹja)to self-disclose about one's identity
  • вы́йти из подпо́лья (výjti iz podpólʹja)to self-disclose about one's identity
Spanish salir del clóset, salir del armario
  • salir del clósetto self-disclose about one's identity
  • salir del armarioto self-disclose about one's identity
  • salir del placardto self-disclose about one's identity
  • salir del roperoto self-disclose about one's identity
Swedish komma ut ur garderoben, komma ut
  • komma ut ur garderobento self-disclose about one's identity
  • komma utto self-disclose about one's identity
Tagalog lumadlad
  • lumadladto self-disclose about one's identity
Turkish açılmak
  • açılmakto self-disclose about one's identity
Cite this entry
APA

come out of the closet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20out%20of%20the%20closet

MLA

“come out of the closet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20out%20of%20the%20closet. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “come out of the closet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20out%20of%20the%20closet.

Source: come out of the closet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.