reticence
Syllables: re·tic·ence/ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns//ˈɹɛtəs(ə)ns/
reticence noun: avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
Noun
reticence (countable and uncountable, plural reticences)
- Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
- [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...
- 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...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: […]...
- Synonyms:
- reserve, taciturnity
- A silent and reserved nature.
- The determined reticence of Jasper, however, was not to be so approached. Impassive, moody, solitary, resolute, so concentrated on one idea, and on its attendant fixed purpose, that he would share it with no fellow-creature, he lived apart from human life.1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, “The Dawn Again”, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC, page 178
- Synonyms:
- introversion, reservation, bashfulness, demureness, diffidence, reluctance, quietness, shyness, sheepishness, timidity
- Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.
- This is the reticence of temperament, and we see it in children from quite an early age—those children who are trusted by the servants, and are their favourites in consequence, because they tell no tales; but it is a disposition that may become dangerous unless watched, and that is always liable to...1870 May 21, “The Art of Reticence”, in The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art, volume XXIX, number 760, London: […] Spottiswoode and Co., […], →OCLC, page 667, column 2
- We learn from the Tribune that "the reticence of self-respect" is the proper and polite name for Major [William] McKinley's refusal to answer any question touching his position on the money question. [...] [I]t now appears that the term is also available for the use of candidates for high office...1896 May 21, “McKinley’s Silence”, in The Nation, volume LXII, number 1612, New York, N.Y.: Nation Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 390, columns 1–2
- Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).
- According to Anthony & Astorga (1997), the CATIE collection suffers the loss of some 250 individuals every year, which amounts to a general genetic erosion rate of 3% (4.8% for the wild genotypes). The expense of maintaining these collections, as well as the reticence of sponsors to finance such...2000, Mario A. Monge, Rubén Guevara, “Coffee”, in Agriculture in Alliance with Nature: CATIE’s Recent Advances in Breeding and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources (Serie Técnica, Informe Técnico...
- The honour of a household is inextricably linked to the reputation of the women who live there [...]. This reputation is sealed by their public display of shame, as manifest in a reticense towards appearing in public places.2002, Jon P. Mitchell, Ambivalent Europeans: Ritual, Memory and the Public Sphere in Malta, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 68
- Synonyms:
- disinclination, hesitation
- Synonym of aposiopesis (“an abrupt breaking-off in speech”).
- If the Comteſſe de la Motte, contented to load me with opprobrious language, and to make uſe of inſidious reticences, does not accept of this formal challenge, I muſt declare to her, once for all, that I ſhall give to all her reticences, to all her obloquy, paſt, preſent, and to come, an anſwer...1786, Comte de Cagliostro [i.e., Alessandro Cagliostro]; Parkyns Macmahon, “Refutation of Madame de la Motte’s Memorial in that Part which Concerns the Comte de Cagliostro”, in Memorial, or Brief...
- Oh! M. de Vieux, this elixir, and the gallows, will suit you … that you may know what it is to enjoy … / He was going to continue, or to be silent, after these reticenses, but Kant interrupted one or both of these things, [...]1852, Adadus Calpe [pseudonym; Antonio Diodoro de Pascual], chapter III, in Antonio Diodoro de Pascual, Henry Edgar, transl., The Two Fathers. […] Part First: The Ruins of the Paraclete, New York...
- Synonyms:
- aposiopesis
Verb
reticence (third-person singular simple present reticences, present participle reticencing, simple past and past participle reticenced)
- To deliberately not listen or pay attention to; to disregard, to ignore.
- [Percy Bysshe] Shelley, a true vates, was called upon by their divine influence to render some choice passages from this very Faust, which, from confessed inability, [Francis Leveson-]Gower had left unattempted in his precious version, and some which from other motives he had purposely reticensed.1833 May, “Hayward’s Translation of Goethe’s “Faust””, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume VII, number XLI, London: James Fraser […], →OCLC, page 532, column 1
- It was because he didn't think he'd be recognized that he so ostentatiously lay in ambush—lost and shrouded, a burrowed lay-low, a smoke screen, anonymous, covert, sequestered, disguised and reticenced and secluded, an inference, a stowaway.1985, Stanley Elkin, Stanley Elkin’s The Magic Kingdom, New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton, →ISBN, page 135
- Synonyms:
- pass over
reticence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
reticence in Hindi
- avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
- अल्पभाषिता alpabhāṣitā, मितभाषिता mitbhāṣitā
reticence in Tamil
- reticence, taciturnity, reserve, the act of concealing, keeping in secret
- கமுக்கம் kamukkam
reticence in Malayalam
- restraint, reserve, inhibition
- അല്പഭാഷിത്വം, മിണ്ടാതിരിക്കൽ, വാഗ്യമം, വാക്കുകളെ നിയന്ത്രിക്കൽ, മൗനം ഭജിക്കൽ, അകൽച്ച പാലിക്കുന്ന സ്വഭാവം
reticence in Kannada
- ಬಿಗಿಹು
Examples of reticence in a sentence
- 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:
- You must not be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her good.1897, Bram Stoker, chapter IX, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter IX, page 124:
- The expense of maintaining these collections, as well as the reticence of sponsors to finance such activities, are perhaps the most important factors affecting this erosion.2000, Mario A. Monge, Rubén Guevara, “Coffee”, in Agriculture in Alliance with Nature: CATIE’s Recent Advances in Breeding and Conservation...
- Any reticence or wariness I felt for the Professor vanished the moment I saw him with my son, and from that point on I trusted him completely.2009, Yoko Ogawa, chapter 2, in Stephen Snyder, transl., The Housekeeper and the Professor, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, pages 26–27:
Synonyms of reticence
- reserve
- taciturnity
- introversion
- reservation
- bashfulness
- demureness
- diffidence
- reluctance
- quietness
- shyness
6 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- ostentation
- chattiness
- diarrhea of the mouth
- garrulity
- garrulousness
- logorrhea
- logorrhoea
- loquaciousness
- loquacity
- multiloquence
4 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of reticence
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | reticences |
| alternative form | reticense |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | reticences |
| present participle | reticencing |
| past participle | reticenced |
| past | reticenced |
Origin of reticence
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.
Words formed from reticence
Questions about reticence
- What does reticence mean?
- Reticence means avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
- What is reticence in Hindi?
- Reticence in Hindi is अल्पभाषिता (alpabhāṣitā), मितभाषिता (mitbhāṣitā). See Reticence meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use reticence in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is reticence?
- Reticence can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce reticence?
- Reticence is pronounced /ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/ (UK).
- What is the plural of reticence?
- The plural of reticence is reticences.
Words near reticence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: reticence (page history and authors); கமுக்கம் (Tamil) (page history and authors); reticence (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); reticence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-reticence.wav, en-us-reticence.mp3.
Cite this entry: “reticence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reticence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.