skeleton in the cupboard

English

Alternative forms

• skeleton in one's cupboard

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

skeleton in the cupboard (plural skeletons in the cupboard or skeletons in the cupboards)

1. (UK, idiomatic) A shameful secret.
   • 2005, Eileen Knowles, chapter 11, in Roses for Robina (Linford Romance Library), large print edition, Leicester, Leicestershire: Linford, published 2017, →ISBN, page 292:

     ‘I expect all families have some skeletons in the cupboards,’ Robina said with a smile of understanding. ‘I know I have some relatives who embarrass me, but you have done nothing to be ashamed of that I can see. […]’

Synonyms

• skeleton in the closet (US), skeleton in the house (UK, dated)

Translations

shameful secret

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 家醜 / 家丑 (gaa¹ cau²)

  Hokkien: 家醜 / 家丑 (ka-chhiú), ka-chhiú

  Mandarin: 家醜 / 家丑 (zh) (jiāchǒu)

• Czech: kostlivec ve skříni (cs) m
• Danish: skelet i skabet n
• Dutch: lijk in de kast (nl) n
• Estonian: luukere kapis
• Finnish: luuranko kaapissa
• French: cadavre dans le placard (fr) m, squelette dans le placard (fr) m
• German: Leiche im Keller f, Dreck am Stecken m
• Greek: σκελετός στην ντουλάπα m (skeletós stin ntoulápa)
• Italian: scheletro nell'armadio m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: şerrnizariya veşartî

• Lithuanian: kompromatas m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skjelett i skapet n

• Polish: trup w szafie m, szkielet w szafie m
• Portuguese: esqueleto no armário (pt)
• Russian: скеле́т в шкафу́ (ru) m (skelét v škafú), семе́йная та́йна f (seméjnaja tájna) (family secret)
• Spanish: esqueleto en el armario m
• Swedish: skelett i garderoben (sv) n

Further reading

• skeleton in the closet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia