Meaning & use
coming out
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The act of telling other people that you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun: say "her coming out," not "a coming out" (though "a coming-out party" is fine before a noun).
Patterns
- someone's coming out
- coming out to someone
- coming out as something
His coming out was difficult at first, but his friends were very supportive.
Many people describe coming out as a long process rather than a single moment.
She wrote a funny essay about her coming out to her grandmother.
noununcountablefigurative
The act of revealing something that was secret, especially an embarrassing or surprising fact.
Grammar: Often used with "about": "his coming out about the affair."
Patterns
- coming out about something
- someone's coming out
The politician's coming out about his past mistakes surprised reporters.
Her coming out as a whistleblower changed the whole investigation.
phrasephrasal verb
The present participle of "come out," meaning to leave a place or to become known.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase after "be" or another verb: "They are coming out of the theater."
Patterns
- come out of something
- come out to do something
The sun is coming out after the rain.
The whole story is coming out in tomorrow's newspaper.
Common combinations
- come out to someone
- He decided to come out to his best friend first.
- come out as gay
- She came out as gay during her second year at college.
- a coming-out story
- The film tells a moving coming-out story.
- public coming out
- His public coming out made headlines around the world.
- before/after coming out
- Life felt much easier after coming out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disclosure
- A formal, neutral word for revealing information; it does not carry the personal identity meaning that "coming out" has.
- revelation
- Suggests surprising new information becoming known, but it is not used for telling people about your sexual or gender identity.
Word family
Commonly confused: coming out or come out?
coming out vs come out
This is the verb phrase; "coming out" is either its -ing form or the noun for the event or process.
Practice
Which sentence uses "coming out" correctly as a noun?
Choose one answer.
Only option 2 uses "coming out" as a noun meaning the act of telling people about your identity. The others use "come/coming out" as a verb phrase about leaving a place, telling someone, or flowers appearing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coming out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.