reticent

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈrɛtɪsənt/ UK /ˈrɛtɪsənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily; reserved

He was reticent about his past and rarely spoke of his childhood.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not revealing one's... reserved taciturn uncommunicativetight-lippedsecretive guarded withdrawn

Opposites

forthcoming talkative communicative forthright candid

Word family

Forms reticence

Derived forms reticencereticently

Related forms reticencetacit taciturn

Simplified etymology

Reticent entered English in the early 19th century and ultimately derives from Latin tacere, “be silent.” It is related to reticence, tacit, and taciturn.

Etymology

From Latin reticens, present participle of reticere ('to keep silent'), from re- (intensive) + tacere ('to be silent').

reticere Latin tacere Latin *takē- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# reticent

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈrɛtɪsənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrɛtɪsənt/

## Meanings
1. not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily; reserved

## Examples
- He was reticent about his past and rarely spoke of his childhood.

## Synonyms
- reserved
- taciturn
- uncommunicative
- tight-lipped
- secretive
- guarded
- withdrawn

## Antonyms
- forthcoming
- talkative
- communicative
- forthright
- candid

## Derived Forms
- reticence
- reticently

## Related Forms
- reticence
- tacit
- taciturn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reticere
- Root: tacere
- Root: *takē-

## Etymology
From Latin reticens, present participle of reticere ('to keep silent'), from re- (intensive) + tacere ('to be silent').

## AI Etymology
Reticent comes from Latin reticens, present participle of reticere ('to keep silent'), from re- (intensive) + tacere ('to be silent'). The historical chain includes Latin reticere, Latin tacere, and Proto-Indo-European *takē-. The quoted older senses, "to keep silent" and "to be silent", supply the semantic anchors for reticent. The formation is best read as compound, participial, and borrowed: the word reticent carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily; reserved". English derivatives include reticence and reticently; related English forms include reticence, tacit, and taciturn. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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