Word.ws English Dictionary

come out of the broom closet

come out of the broom closet verb: to publicly reveal that one is a Wiccan or some other type of neopagan.

Verb

come out of the broom closet (third-person singular simple present comes out of the broom closet, present participle coming out of the broom closet, simple past and past participle come out of the broom closet)

  1. (idiomatic) To publicly reveal that one is a Wiccan or some other type of neopagan.
    • Second, despite constitutional guarantees of religions freedom and practice, and despite the rhetoric of tolerance with which religion in American society is cloaked, "coming out of the broom closet" and declaring oneself Wiccan or Witch remains a very risky act for many people, precisely because...2005, Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet, page 36
    • In 1986, a federal appeals court ruled that Wicca is a legal religion. That means that the practice of Wicca is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Ever since the ruling, more and more Wiccans have "come out of the broom closet."2006, Denise Zimmerman, Katherine Gleason, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, unnumbered page

Forms of come out of the broom closet

third-person singular presentcomes out of the broom closet
present participlecoming out of the broom closet
past participlecome out of the broom closet
pastcome out of the broom closet

Origin of come out of the broom closet

Coined by analogy with come out of the closet, with the proverbial hiding place being changed to a broom closet, a jocular reference to stereotype of witches riding brooms.

Questions about come out of the broom closet

What does come out of the broom closet mean?
Come out of the broom closet means to publicly reveal that one is a Wiccan or some other type of neopagan.
What part of speech is come out of the broom closet?
Come out of the broom closet is a verb.
What is the past tense of come out of the broom closet?
The past tense of come out of the broom closet is come out of the broom closet.

Words near come out of the broom closet in the dictionary

  1. come onto
  2. come out
  3. come out in
  4. come out in the wash
  5. come out of one's shell
  6. come out of the broom closet
  7. come out of the closet
  8. come out of the woodwork
  9. come out on top
  10. come out smelling like a rose
  11. come out smelling of roses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: come out of the broom closet (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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