reticent

adj

/ˈɹɛtɪsənt/

Etymology

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

1
Unwilling to communicate
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.
- But he was a reticent as well as an eccentric man; and he made no mention of a certain evening when he warmed his hands at the gatehouse fire, and looked steadily down upon a certain heap of torn and miry clothes upon the floor.
- 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.
2
Hesitant or not wanting to take some action
Hesitant or not wanting to take some action; reluctant (usually followed by a verb in the infinitive).
- 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.
- One letter from Deborah presents an especially fascinating contrast with Jane's letters to her brother. Whereas Jane was keen on discussing politics, Deborah was reticent to do so.

No curated loop yet for reticent. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA