reticence

CEFRC1

/ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A tendency to avoid talking about your thoughts or feelings.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A silent and reserved nature.

Examples

  • I like him all the more for his reticence.

  • In order to keep his original idea from being copied, Henry resorted to reticence.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.

  2. Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.

  3. Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).

More examples

In context

  • [Y]ou paſſe ouer their teſtimonies, & his whole diſcourſe out of them, with a fraudulent reticence of the particulars, and thinke to be euen with them, making vp by ſcoffing, what you cannot by arguing, [...]

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

  • That is why I regret that my arguments have not convinced many scholars, as shown by the reticenses of some here present.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The witness's blank during questioning made the lawyers suspicious.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is borrowed from Middle French réticence (“act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis”) (modern French réticence (“tight-lippedness, reticence”)), or derived from its etymon Latin reticentia (“act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis”), from reticēns (“keeping silent, reticent, silent; keeping secret, concealing”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Reticēns is the present active participle of reticeō (“to keep silent; to keep secret, conceal”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + taceō (“to be silent, keep quiet”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tak- or *tHk-). The English word is cognate with Italian reticenza (“reticence”), Portuguese reti...