the genie is out of the bottle
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A secret or problem is now public and cannot be hidden
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bí mật hoặc vấn đề giờ đã công khai và không thể che giấu
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a genie escaping from a bottle
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The news about the company's financial troubles has been leaked, and now the genie is out of the bottle
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “the genie is out of the bottle” mean?
A secret or problem is now public and cannot be hidden Literally: a genie escaping from a bottle
Is “the genie is out of the bottle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.