reticent
reticent
Definition
reti·cent (-sənt)
adjective
- habitually silent or uncommunicative; disinclined to speak readily; reserved; taciturn
- having a restrained, quiet, or understated quality
Etymology: L reticens, prp. of reticere, to be silent < re-, again + tacere, to be silent: see tacit
ret′i·cently adverb
reticent
Synonyms
reticent
Usage Examples
Preposition: on
- subject: Stoppard, famously reticent on the subject of his private life in interviews, has been married twice.
Infinitive complement
- talk: I find them terribly reticent to talk about the glorious past.
- join: Tho SB not quite herself the last few days and was a bit reticent to join in as much as she normally does.
- pay: But I was still reticent to pay out around £ 500 for a further bike that I was still not totally happy with.
- do: Radical change is something that most businesses have been reticent to do.
- reveal: Strange things lurk in the jungle and of course everybody has a secret past that they are all reticent to reveal and talk about.
Used with adjective complement
- seem: Too many higher up the food chain of People Power seem reticent about making full disclosure.
- become: Danger appears not to stir him, but he becomes reticent when asked about his work.
- remain: While Blue Tits remain reticent, Great and Marsh Tits are exceptionally bold.
- feel: At first I felt reticent about passing my enormous rucksack over to him.
Modifying Another Word
- understandably: They were nevertheless understandably reticent to meet new people.
- strangely: But architecture, on the whole, is strangely reticent to play openly on emotion.
- somewhat: Concerning domestic politics: Schleiermacher was always somewhat reticent about fundamental constitutional questions.
- initially: He is initially reticent, unsure of the motives for my questions.
- equally: Thornton was equally reticent about both issues when I spoke to him.
- extremely: This is rather rare, with many other sites providing online services being extremely reticent about who they are really.
Modifies a noun
- man: What the honest but reticent man says is true, but not the whole truth.
- student: Computer ' phobia ' exists in a variety of shades, from the mildly reticent student to the absolutely terrified.
- member: As always, even the more reticent members participated enthusiastically.
- child: Mog is a powerful teaching tool that can bring discussion alive and entice a reticent child to offer their thoughts and opinions.
Browse dictionary entries near reticent
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- Retin-A
