air one's dirty laundry in public

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To publicly discuss or disclose one's personal problems or embarrassing issues

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

đ讨论 hoặc tiết lộ công khai vấn đề hoặc vấn đề nhục nhã cá nhân

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to hang out dirty clothes to be seen
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English
Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “air one's dirty laundry in public” mean?

To publicly discuss or disclose one's personal problems or embarrassing issues Literally: to hang out dirty clothes to be seen

Is “air one's dirty laundry in public” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“vạch áo cho người xem lưng” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.