dirty laundry

Definition of dirty laundry

: private matters whose public exposure brings distress and embarrassment

— called also dirty linen

Examples of dirty laundry in a Sentence

The company is trying to keep its dirty laundry from being aired in public.

Recent Examples on the Web This a great way to decrease governmental transparency and make sure that city hall’s dirty laundry doesn’t get publicly aired at a ‘public’ meeting. — John Benson, cleveland, "Seven Hills City Council reinstates three-minute speaking rule for public comment," 9 Dec. 2019 In other cases, a player once heralded as one of the most naturally gifted among the squad is cast aside like dirty laundry. — SI.com, "Why Outcast Ozil Deserves Another Chance at Arsenal Under Unai Emery," 10 Oct. 2019 Aaron also aired a lot of dirty laundry about his family and accused his brother of raping a woman. — Christie D'zurilla, chicagotribune.com, "Nick Carter seeks restraining order against brother Aaron Carter," 18 Sep. 2019 Finally, the couple’s awful dirty laundry has been dragged into the light. — refinery29.com, "TV Loves Calling Out Cheaters Right Now," 10 July 2018 The carry-on features two compartments with a compression pad (to fit more in), plus a bag to house dirty laundry. — Jessica Migala, NBC News, "18 travel gifts that make traveling better and easier in 2019," 21 Nov. 2019 For his part Mr Draghi fears that airing dirty laundry damages the bank’s credibility. — The Economist, "Can Germany cool its monetary-policy debate?," 3 Oct. 2019 The irony — pun intended — of airing dirty laundry seemingly made clean by racism’s insidiousness is impossible to miss. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: At LACMA, Betye Saar’s distinctive assemblage art probes American racism," 24 Sep. 2019 And with Airbnb locked in to a 2020 IPO—a process that involves airing out its dirty laundry for investors—every bit of regulatory backlash counts. — Wired, "How Airbnb’s Fight to Overturn a New Jersey Law Imploded," 6 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dirty laundry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Learn More about dirty laundry

Dictionary Entries near dirty laundry

dirty little secret

dirty/mean/rotten trick

Statistics for dirty laundry

Last Updated

24 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Dirty laundry.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dirty%20linen. Accessed 19 January 2020.

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