Dictionary

cybercloset en · NOUN

Etymology

From cyber- + closet.

Meanings

1. (rare) A space on the Internet resembling a closet, especially in the sense of one's sexual orientation or undesirable secrets being kept "in the closet".
   • A virtual, nanogenetic space? A glove-and-helmet, artificially intelligent, self-replicating reality? A cybercafe of the mind for the millions? A cybercloset of the mind for one? It may now be that we approach a world more like a room[…] 2004, Phil Condon, Montana Surround: Land, Water, Nature, and Place, page 107:
   • That's why CleanSweep is considered "a superior way to clean your cybercloset." 1998 May 5, PC Mag, volume 17, number 9, page 293:
   • […] there is also the risk that they will keep people from truly coming out and participating in the community. Depending on how they are utilized, gay chat rooms could become pathetic cyberclosets. 1998 March 3, The Advocate, number 754:
   • Favorite new features include an expanded cybercloset, where girls can scan their own photos and "try on" new hairstyles. 1998 June, Working Mother, volume 21, number 6:
   • Many lesbians and gays prefer not to self-identify for a variety of reasons, but this study has shown dramatically that our community is out of the cybercloset in large numbers. 2013, Katherine Sender (quoting Scott Seitz), Business, Not Politics: The Making of the Gay Market, page 152:
   • To be fair, AOL is not the only online portal with various sexual dysfunctions, they're just the biggest and offer the biggest target, especially in light of the disconnect between their family-only promotion and the sex hidden in the cybercloset. 2002, Lewis Perdue, EroticaBiz: How Sex Shaped the Internet, page 49:

Forms