A closet is a small room or space built into a building, usually with a door, where you store clothes, shoes, linens, or other items you want to keep organized but out of sight. Most bedrooms have closets with rods for hanging shirts and dresses, and shelves for folded clothes or boxes. A linen closet holds towels and bedsheets, while a coat closet near the front door is perfect for guests' jackets.

Before closets became common in homes (around the 1800s), people stored their clothes in large wooden cabinets called wardrobes or armoires. Modern closets range from tiny spaces barely big enough for a few coats to huge walk-in closets you can actually step inside and move around in.

As an adjective, closet can describe someone who secretly enjoys something they don't admit publicly, like a closet comic book fan who pretends not to care about superheroes but secretly reads every new issue.