Contextualizebeta

closet case

noun

Etymology

From closet + case. First use appears c. 1946 in the Washington Post.

  1. derived from cāsus — “a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case”
  2. derived from cas — “an event”
  3. inherited from cas
  4. compounded as closet case — “closet + case”

Definitions

  1. A person who conceals or denies their sexuality or gender identity.

    • Even self-styled liberated gay and straight people sometimes call outspoken bigots "closet cases".
    • Now this one portrays the drill instructor as an extreme/suicidal if he ever admits it closet case.

  2. A person who is shunned, ignored, or considered to be an embarrassment.

    • Closet case at Delta Upsilon is shunted to the basement....
    • Under-expectation on the part of the parent... can range from a complete refusal by the father to accept the fact that the child does exist (a closet case)...

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for closet case. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA