View synonyms for

closet queen

[ kloz-it kween ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man who denies his sexual orientation to himself or keeps it hidden from others.

closet queen

noun

informal.
a man who is homosexual but does not admit the fact

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Word History and Origins

Origin of closet queen¹

First recorded in 1965–70; closet (in the sense “secret”) + queen (in the sense of “gay man”)

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“I called it a closet queen bar.”

From

Though Vidal accused Buckley of being a “closet queen”, this was not the retort of a militant homosexual: Vidal, a “pansexual”, always saw “homosexual” and “heterosexual” as adjectives, not nouns.

From

Allusions to homosexuality were abundant, with Buckley implying that Vidal was distinctly “other”; Vidal insinuated that Buckley was a closet queen.

From

For, you see, the old gentleman himself got around a bit in his day�notably into the marital bed of his son, the closet queen.

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