deep, dark secret

deep, dark secret

A piece of information that is extremely private and confidential, usually implied to be embarrassing, incriminating, or shameful. I've carried my fear of clowns as a deep, dark secret for many years now. Many saw her as a perfect candidate, but no one could have known she had a deep, dark secret from her past.
See also: dark, secret
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • have (a) skeleton(s) in (one's)/the closet
  • have (a) skeleton(s) in (one's)/the cupboard
  • skeleton
  • never live (something) down
  • live down
  • a skeleton in the closet
  • a skeleton in the cupboard/closet
  • skeleton in closet
  • skeleton in the closet
  • skeleton in the/(one's) closet
References in periodicals archive
My heart dropped, as that was a deep, dark secret I had given up on.
A friend or neighbour will let down their defences and confide a deep, dark secret. You might wish they'd never shared this confidence, and you intuitively know your relationship will never be the same again.
Apart from being a fire-breathing virago who tramples on Yummy Jock's fragile ego, CM has a deep, dark secret, too!
Faye and Seb are on the run NEIGHBOURS CHANNEL 5 HAS any soap character ever turned up who isn't hiding a deep, dark secret? It certainly appears that the mysterious Hamish has something to hide as he grows ever closer to the Brennan brothers, and in particular to his long-lost biological son Tyler, pictured.
It has been a year since the day of the incident--the day that became Makani's deep, dark secret. Through her parents' ugly divorce, she is often reminded of how she has screwed up and how they--and her friends back in Hawaii--will not forgive her.
While speaking with (http://tvline.com/2017/04/25/famous-in-love-recap-cassie-topless-maid-georgie-flores-interview/) TV Line , the actress said that she has known since the beginning that Cassie has a deep, dark secret, and this is how she is able to sustain her lifestyle.
Hathaway said: "Jules doesn't have some deep, dark secret - her unhappiness and stress gets explained in the film.
Twelve-year-old Jo Waller has one deep, dark secret: she edits Wikipedia for fun.
It was assumed that he had a deep, dark secret, but in those days you just didn't question.
Suddenly they have a deep, dark secret in common, and Finch, ever the 'freak', sees a way to use it to his advantage.
Maybe the pressure of his new job has got to him but he won't admit it - or perhaps there's a deep, dark secret that we'll be let in on in the coming weeks (and probably thanks to the kindly and wise Lewis).
I have a deep, dark secret that I don't like to talk about at parties because it elicits the kind of pitying look that a woman of my advancing age just can't deal with.
As if that wasn't enough for her to process, John soon delivers a fresh blow with some staggering news of his own, before Gillian decides the time is right to share a deep, dark secret with her stepsister.
Despite her success she's been a recluse, avoiding the limelight of book tours and publicity efforts and hiding a deep, dark secret from the world: a secret which is the wellspring of her literary inspiration.
The new position espoused by President Barack Obama and those who kept the NSA's domestic surveillance a deep, dark secret is that of course we should have a wide-ranging national debate about balancing the imperatives of privacy and security.