Meaning & use
skeleton in the cupboard
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
an embarrassing or shameful fact about someone that they try to keep hidden
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a skeleton in the cupboard' or 'skeletons in the cupboard' for more than one secret.
Patterns
- have a skeleton in the cupboard
- a skeleton in the cupboard about something
Every family has a skeleton in the cupboard that nobody talks about at dinner.
The politician's skeleton in the cupboard was a business deal from twenty years earlier.
She was afraid the reporters would find the skeleton in her cupboard.
Word forms
| plural | skeletons in the cupboard |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a skeleton in the cupboard
- He has a skeleton in the cupboard from his university days.
- a family skeleton in the cupboard
- The stolen painting was the family's skeleton in the cupboard.
- hide a skeleton in the cupboard
- You can't hide a skeleton in the cupboard forever.
- dig up a skeleton in the cupboard
- The journalist dug up a skeleton in the cupboard from his past.
Synonyms and how they differ
- skeleton in the closet
- The American version of the same idiom; use it in US English.
- dark secret
- A more general phrase for any hidden bad fact; less idiomatic and not tied to families or reputations.
Commonly confused: skeleton in the cupboard or skeleton in the closet?
skeleton in the cupboard vs skeleton in the closet
Same meaning, but 'closet' is the American word; 'cupboard' is the British version.
Practice
The reporter threatened to reveal the actor's ______, which he had kept hidden for years.
Choose one answer.
The fixed idiom is 'skeleton in the cupboard' (or 'closet' in American English). The other words are not part of the expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skeleton in the cupboard”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.