reticence

See also: réticence

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French réticence, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin reticentia, from reticēre

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɾɨsins/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

reticence (countable and uncountable, plural reticences)

1. tight-lippedness, discretion, avoidance of saying too much
2. a silent and reserved nature

Quotations

• 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray:

  Basil's absurd fits of jealousy, his wild devotion, his extravagant panegyrics, his curious reticences, — he understood them all now, and he felt sorry.

• 2003, Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor:

  Any reticence or wariness I felt for the Professor vanished the moment I saw him with my son, and from that point on I trusted him completely.

• 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:

  You must not be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her good.

Synonyms

• reserve, secrecy, taciturnity
• bashfulness, demureness, diffidence, quietness, reservation, shyness, timidity

Antonyms

• openness, talkativeness
• loquaciousness, ostentation

Related terms

• reticent, reticently

Translations

the avoidance of saying too much

• German: Reserviertheit f, Schweigsamkeit (de) f
• Greek: εχεμύθεια (el) f (echemýtheia)
• Italian: reticenza (it)
• Russian: молчаливость (ru) f (molčalivostʹ), немногословность (ru) f (nemnogoslovnostʹ)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian: šutljivost (sh) f, ćutljivost f
• Swedish: förtegenhet (sv)
• Turkish: susma (tr)

a silent nature

• German: Zurückhaltung (de) f
• Greek: σιωπηλότητα (el) f (siopilótita)
• Maori: ahaaha
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: сде́ржанность (ru) f (sdéržannostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: povučenost (sh) f
• Turkish: suskunluk (tr)