Word.ws English Dictionary

close to the vest

close to the vest adverb: in a reserved or secretive manner.

Adverb

close to the vest (comparative closer to the vest, superlative closest to the vest)

  1. In a reserved or secretive manner.

Forms of close to the vest

comparativecloser to the vest
superlativeclosest to the vest
alternative formclose to one's vest

Origin of close to the vest

It refers to the practice of holding one's playing cards close to one's chest so that the other players cannot see one's hand.

Questions about close to the vest

What does close to the vest mean?
Close to the vest means in a reserved or secretive manner.
What part of speech is close to the vest?
Close to the vest is an adverb.

Words near close to the vest in the dictionary

  1. close to home
  2. close to one's vest
  3. close to someone's heart
  4. close to the bone
  5. close to the metal
  6. close to the vest
  7. close to the wind
  8. close together
  9. close up
  10. close up shop
  11. close with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: close to the vest (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “close to the vest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/close_to_the_vest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.