skeleton at the feast—a person or thing that in the midst of pleasures acts as a reminder of life’s troubles:
- However, all’s well that ends well, and I haven’t come back to be a skeleton at the feast.
skeleton in the cupboard, a —(also U.S.: skeleton in the closet, a) an embarrassing personal secret or discreditable fact:
- One doesn’t necessarily have to have a skeleton in the cupboard to be damaged by rumor.