Reticent

//ˈɹɛtɪsənt// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Unwilling to communicate; keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.

    "They are slow and reticent, and are like a dull good horse which lets every nag pass him, but with whip and spur will run down every racer in the field."

  2. 2
    Hesitant or not wanting to take some action; reluctant (usually followed by a verb in the infinitive). proscribed

    "While many uncomfortable components of the Holocaust have been analyzed in minute detail, the rape of Jewish women during this era persists as a subject that scholars and victims alike are reticent to explore."

Adjective
  1. 1
    reluctant to draw attention to yourself wordnet
  2. 2
    cool and formal in manner wordnet
  3. 3
    temperamentally disinclined to talk wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
reservedundemonstrativealoofbackwardbashfulblank

Example

More examples

"He is reticent and he never speaks unless spoken to."

Etymology

Latin reticēns, present participle of reticeō (“to keep silence”).

More for "reticent"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.