as in hidden
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as in housed
to close or shut in by or as if by barriers
he closeted himself in his study, vowing not to emerge until he had finished the term paper
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of closeted
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
In the 80-minute play, Dold brings to life 19 characters and believably portrays not only Philip and Harry, but is father and mother, a closeted boyfriend, the boyfriend’s folk-singing sister and their parents, and some others along the way – each are distinct.
—Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Or perhaps the speaker could recognize that a cousin at the table may be closeted, and take it upon themselves to model how to push back against transphobia.
—Lee Bebout, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for closeted
Adjective
Set in 1990, the show follows a closeted teenager named Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer), who impulsively joins the Marines to follow his enlisting best friend, despite the ban on gay people in the military.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
In the 80-minute play, Dold brings to life 19 characters and believably portrays not only Philip and Harry, but is father and mother, a closeted boyfriend, the boyfriend’s folk-singing sister and their parents, and some others along the way – each are distinct.
—Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
Dale, who was closeted at the time of his death, leaves behind notes stashed inside his treasured first-edition books hinting that his wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) may have had something to do with his ostensible suicide.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Or perhaps the speaker could recognize that a cousin at the table may be closeted, and take it upon themselves to model how to push back against transphobia.
—Lee Bebout, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for closeted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for closeted
Adjective
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Fans have been tearing the new Springfield Island map apart to unearth Easter eggs and hidden gags, including a full dissection of the notorious wonky house that the family inhabits.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
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On a hidden floor in an old hotel in the Alps, Nazi Germany is still alive in The Secret Floor (Das geheime Stockwerk), a time-travel adventure film for the whole family that wants to help children learn about the dark past.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Then later, a week after the testing was done, state inspectors discovered that about a dozen residents who had been exposed to COVID-19 were being housed in the same rooms as a slew of residents who hadn’t.—
Kevin G. Hall,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
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The new eatery is located in a historic building that formerly housed Eric's Porter-Haus steakhouse.—
Jim Riccioli,
jsonline.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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In Coldwater, Walking Dead star Lincoln returns to British screens as a repressed man who moves to a backwater Scottish village and strikes up a friendship with his next door neighbor Tommy (Ewen Bremner).—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
27 Oct. 2025
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Like Freud’s return of the repressed.—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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These efforts highlight that hypersonic technology is no longer confined to the arsenals of superpowers.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Nov. 2025
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Badeaux revealed that Olive had been confined to a bathroom for 10 years before her former owners ultimately surrendered her for adoption.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The resulting four-bedroom, three-bathroom residence feels both layered and deeply personal.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
12 Nov. 2025
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La Santa passed Wednesday’s callback inspection after the rodents either moved to new housing, gone on vacation or were more subtle about their personal waste disposal.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Napoli said dueling dinosaurs, which is still partially encased in rock, has many more secrets to spill.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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In another experiment, the researchers encased their artificial muscle material in a biodegradable capsule and inserted it into a pig bladder.—
Elie Dolgin,
IEEE Spectrum,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Watch it for its skin-deep enticement, its powerful visual devices, but also its concealed malignancy.—
Sally Jenkins,
The Atlantic,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been surrounded by a control line.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
12 Nov. 2025
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Passengers attended a California church camp The fire department said the bus was returning to Orange County after passengers attended a church camp in the San Bernardino Mountains near Angelus Oaks, a small community surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Closeted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/closeted. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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