blootkomen

Blootkomen is a Dutch verb meaning to expose or reveal something by making it bare or public. It can refer to a physical act—removing clothing to show bare skin—or to making information or processes visible that were previously hidden.

In the physical sense, blootkomen is relatively formal or literary. In everyday speech, Dutch speakers more commonly say zich uitkleden for removing clothes or zich blootgeven for presenting oneself naked. In art, photography, and literature, blootkomen may describe deliberate, aesthetic exposure of the body.

In a figurative sense, blootkomen means to reveal or lay bare facts, secrets, or intentions. This usage is common in journalism, analysis, and prose, where a hidden truth becomes accessible or acknowledged through exposure.

Etymology and usage notes: the word is formed from bloot (naked) and komen (to come). It is less common in colloquial speech and is mainly encountered in literary, descriptive, or formal contexts. Related terms include blootstelling (exposure), blootgeven (to reveal), and blootleggen (to lay bare). In legal and cultural discussions of public behavior, acts of exposure are typically described with more specific terms tied to public decency and regulation, rather than blootkomen.