reticence
Meanings
- Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
- A silent and reserved nature.
- Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.
- Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).
- Synonym of aposiopesis (“an abrupt breaking-off in speech”).
- To deliberately not listen or pay attention to; to disregard, to ignore.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
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.