SKELETON IN THE CLOSET Definition & Meaning

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skeleton in the closet

A potentially embarrassing secret: “Before nominating the new judge, the committee asked him if he had any skeletons in the closet.”

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Idioms and Phrases

A shameful secret, as in Both her parents were alcoholics; that was the skeleton in her closet . This metaphoric term alludes to a murder victim long concealed in a closet, possibly based on some true incident that is now forgotten. [Early 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Financial skeletons in the closet are not inherently disqualifying for a candidate for public office, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and the former head of the city of L.A.’s ethics commission.

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The least suggestion of marital infidelity, or any other skeleton in the closet, will be picked apart.

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As much as he tried to find that one skeleton in the closet to explain it all, he couldn’t.

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“You shouldn’t have any skeletons in the closet.”

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It's left to other contributors to raise Britain's history around the slave trade, as well as the "skeletons in the closet" in the Royal Family.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from ��t¶�� Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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