reticent

Syllables: ret·i·centUK/ˈɹɛtɪsənt//ˈrɛt ə sənt/

reticent adjective: unwilling to communicate; keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.

Adjective

reticent (comparative more reticent, superlative most reticent)

Unwilling to communicate; keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.
- She's rather reticent on the subject of her finances.
- 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.1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Result”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC
(proscribed) Hesitant or not wanting to take some action; reluctant (usually followed by a verb in the infinitive).
- He is reticent to travel so much.
- 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.2010, Helene J. Sinnreich, “The Rape of Jewish Women during the Holocaust”, in Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust, page 108

کاظم, خاموش طبیعت

স্বল্পভাষী, নিজের ভাবনা প্রকাশে অনিচ্ছুক

withdrawn, reserved, introverted: മിണ്ടാട്ടം കുറഞ്ഞ, അടക്കമുള്ള, വളരെ കുറച്ചുമാത്രം സംസാരിക്കുന്ന, മൗനാവലംബിയായ, നിയന്ത്രിതവാക്കായ, അകൽച്ച പാലിക്കുന്ന

ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾತಿನ, ಹಿಡಿತದ ಮಾತಿನ, ಸಂಕೋಚದ, ಮನಸ್ಸು ಬಿಚ್ಚಿ ಮಾತನಾಡದ, ಪ್ರಕಟಗೊಳಿಸದ ಸ್ವಭಾವದ, ಬಚ್ಚಿಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ

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She had told him she was not now at Marlott, but had been curiously reticent as to her actual address, and the only course was to go to Marlott and inquire for it.1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London...
The milkman had been released, I read, and the true criminal, about whose identity the police were reticent, was believed to have got away from London by one of the northern lines.1915 August–September, John Buchan, chapter 3, in The Thirty-Nine Steps, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published October...
The inhabitants of that street impressed me peculiarly; At first I thought it was because they were all silent and reticent; but later decided it was because they were all very old.1922, H. P. Lovecraft, The Music of Erich Zann:
But they were not reticent enough to prevent the circulation of certain uneasy rumours and extravagant stories of discreditable adventures.1922, Rafael Sabatini, “chapter XXV”, in Captain Blood: His Odyssy:

comparative	more reticent
superlative	most reticent

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

What does reticent mean?: Reticent means unwilling to communicate; keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.
What is reticent in Urdu?: Reticent in Urdu is کاظم, خاموش طبیعت. See Reticent meaning in Urdu.
How do you use reticent in a sentence?: She had told him she was not now at Marlott, but had been curiously reticent as to her actual address, and the only course was to go to Marlott and inquire for it.
What part of speech is reticent?: Reticent is an adjective.
How do you pronounce reticent?: Reticent is pronounced /ˈɹɛtɪsənt/ (UK).

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-reticent.ogg, en-au-reticent.ogg.

Cite this entry: “reticent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reticent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.