I. ˈkläzə̇t also -lȯz-; usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, diminutive of clos enclosure — more at close
1. : an apartment or small room for retirement or privacy: as
a. : a monarch's, statesman's, or official's private chamber for counsel or devotions
that diplomacy at critical stages is something for the closet and not a mass meeting — C.G.Bowers
b. chiefly Midland : privy
2. : a cabinet or recess for china, household utensils, or clothing : cupboard
3. : a place of retreat or privacy
closet of the heart
4. : a diminutive of the bar in heraldry of one half its width
5. : the bowl of a water closet
II. adjective
1. : closely private
a closet utterance
closet vows
2. archaic : suited to a closet
closet prayer
3.
a. : theoretical as opposed to practical
a closet politician
b. : working in or fitted for use or enjoyment only in the closet as the place of seclusion, study, or speculation
the danger of intellectual anemia which threatens all closet philosophers — M.R.Cohen
the universe refutes our closet rationalizations — W.L.Sullivan
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to shut up in or as if in a closet
he closeted himself in a phone booth
2. : to take into a closet for a secret interview
the inspector was closeted with the district attorney
IV. noun
: a state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity
he comes out of the closet and unabashedly urges socialism — New Times
V. adjective
: being so in private : secret
a closet racist
a closet reader … during her years in the limelight as a dancer — John Updike