I’m interested in the usage of “out” as a verb in the phrase “She was outed for lip-synching” in the following paragraph of Time Magazine’s (February 5) article titled, “A lesson in crisis communication from Beyoncé.”
"As the story goes, without any introduction or explanation, the singer
entered the room, asked the press representatives to stand, and belted
out the national anthem in its entirety. In that moment, Beyoncé put
to rest any lingering image and reputation damage suffered when she
was outed for lip-synching the very same song at President Barack
Obama’s recent inauguration. Her swift and transparent response in
front of the right audience at exactly the right time is a textbook
lesson for any entrepreneur facing a crisis."
-I liked the last line in particular.
From the context of the quoted sentence, I surmise “be outed for” means “be revealed / exposed to be.”
But when I checked English dictionaries on line, Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘Out’ only as preposition and adverb, Merriam-Webster defines it only as adverb. Oxford Dictionary provides definitions of ‘Out’ as verb as well as adverb, preposition, and noun to mean;
[with object]
1. knock (someone) out.
2. (informal) reveal the homosexuality of (a prominent person).
3. (West Indian) extinguish
4. (dated) expel, reject, or dismiss
None of the above three dictionaries includes the definition of ‘out’ in the meaning of plain exposure or disclosure.
The Wisdoms English Japanese dictionary at hand also gives definitions of ‘out’ as verb, but in connection with homosexuals – coming-out:
- vt. (1)(in the form of be out) being disclosed to be a homosexual. (2) extinguish (fire). (3) expel.
- vi. (1) go out. (2)(accompanying will) emerge. become overt.
What does “be outed for” exactly mean in the above quote? Is it a popular idiom to mean something hidden / embarrassing becomes open / public?
Can I say "She is outed for having an affair with the actor,"
or “The country X is outed for finishing preparation for launching a missile with nuclear head” as a casual way of saying?
Best Answer
All three of these meanings for out in Collins relate to this usage
In the first, the sense of the phrase is the truth will [come] out.
In the second, the phrase coming out of the closet was the counterpoint to being in the closet, probably based on the term closeted
It seems that outing used to describe exposure of a variety of secrets, as shown in the third listed definition, may have been derived from these other two uses.