English · Idiom Attested

let the cat out of the bag

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To reveal a secret, usually carelessly or by mistake.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tiết lộ bí mật, thường là cẩn thận hoặc bởi sai lầm

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: To release a cat from a sack.

When a secret escapes by accident — often about surprises.

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Dad let the cat out of the bag about the move before we could tell the kids properly.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Equivalents & related

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

What does “let the cat out of the bag” mean?

To reveal a secret, usually carelessly or by mistake. Literally: To release a cat from a sack.

Is “let the cat out of the bag” formal or informal?

let the cat out of the bag is generally informal; connotation: neutral.

What is the closest equivalent?

“spill the beans” (English) — near equivalent.