How do you use the word "reticence" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "reticence" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "reticence": In order to keep his original idea from being copied, Henry resorted to reticence. I like him all the more for his reticence.

Reticence Meaning

/ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

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

nounA silent and reserved nature.

Sentence Examples

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

I like him all the more for his reticence.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

reserve

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

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

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

His ____ on the subject made his colleagues suspect that he knew more than he was willing to share.

Word Origin & History

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 reticência, Spanish reticencia (“reticence; reluctance”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[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, [...]" — 1640, I. S. [pseudonym; John Price], “Of the Great Reuerence of Ancient Christian Emperors and Kings to the Pope”, in Anti-Mortonvs or An Apology in Defence of the Church of Rome. Against the Grand Imposture of Doctor Thomas Morton, Bishop of Durham. […], [Saint-Omer, France: English College Press], →OCLC, page 457:

"It must not be numbered among the obliviscences and reticenses of the candid reader, that this man, who had been [...] declared by the head of the Church of Christ, in a public instrument for the instruction and direction of all the faithful, that he was a man of very unsound doctrine, and guilty of many outrages against the holy see, should have been selected and appointed the sole plenipotentiary, delegate, and commissioner, on the part of the Church of Rome, to effect the desirable object of her reunion with the Church of England." — 1824, Francis Plowden, “Of Tithes and Other Church Property”, in Human Subordination: Being an Elementary Disquisition Concerning the Civil and Spiritual Power and Authority, […], Paris; London: […] W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 125:

"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." — 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter IX, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 174:

"The greatest egotist has his reticenses. It is only during the sessions of sweet silent thought that a man can summon his soul to judgment." — 1896 May 2, Elbert Hubbard, “The Study”, in The Journal of Koheleth: Being a Reprint of the Book of Ecclesiastes with an Essay […], East Aurora, N.Y.: The Roycroft Printing Shop, →OCLC, page XX:

"He would not give me any further clue. You must not be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her good. He will speak plainly enough when the time comes, be sure." — 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter IX, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter IX, page 124:

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