Noncommittal
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Failure to commit to a decision or course of action. countable, uncountable
"As a result of cowardly noncommittals during the immediate postelection period, there was so much strain on several black-white Democratic relationships that they approached open ruptures."
- 2 A voter etc. who has not yet committed to a decision. countable, uncountable
"Where they occur, in the Liberal increases in Quebec and Ontario for instance, they are offset by declines in the number of undecideds or noncommittals."
- 1 Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion.
"The Major's face was noncommittal."
- 1 refusing to bind oneself to a particular course of action or view or the like wordnet
Example
More examples"After Tom and Mary read a few verses from their religious text, they remained noncommittal, but when Tom happened to mention that he had learned a lot from his grandparents about their early life, the missionaries could scarcely contain their excitement."
Etymology
From non- + committal.
Related phrases
More for "noncommittal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.