a skeleton in the cupboard

a skel·e·ton in the cup·board

A a

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ey skel-i-tn in stressed th ee kuhb-erd]
- /eɪ ˈskɛl ɪ tn ɪn stressed ði ˈkʌb ərd/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ey skel-i-tn in stressed th ee kuhb-erd]
- /eɪ ˈskɛl ɪ tn ɪn stressed ði ˈkʌb ərd/

Definition of a skeleton in the cupboard words

phrase a skeleton in the cupboard If you say that someone has a skeleton in the closet, or in British English a skeleton in the cupboard, you mean that they are keeping secret a bad or embarrassing fact about themselves. 3

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 94% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

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