reticent
adjective
A. N. Whitehead
Did you know?
The History of Reticent Is Less Than 200 Years Old
We hate to break it to the language sticklers among us, but use of reticent as a synonym of reluctant—though it veers away from the word’s Latin origins in the verb reticēre, meaning “to keep silent”—is well established, and there is no reason to be reticent about employing it. In fact, reticent took on its “reluctant” sense a mere 50 years after first appearing in English in the early 19th century with the meaning “inclined to be silent or uncommunicative.” Though brows may furrow and lips may purse, the development of reticent’s newer meaning has some logic to it: English speakers first used reticent synonymously with reluctant when the context was speech, as in “he was reticent to talk about his past,” keeping the word close to its “silent” beginnings. Eventually, however, exclusive association with speech was abandoned, and one can now be reticent to do anything, even if it’s to admit that language is not immutable.
Synonyms
Examples of reticent in a Sentence
Martin Flanagan, Manchester Guardian Weekly, 29 Dec. 1991
… two or three rather reticent abstract paintings.
—Jay Jacobs, Gourmet, January 1979
An extremely reticent man, Morris does not like to talk about his experience in personal terms.
—Helen Dudar, New York Times Magazine, 30 Oct. 1977
the panel decided to investigate the fraud charges against the company, which has always been reticent about its internal operations
her husband is by nature a reticent person, and she resigned herself to that fact long ago
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024
However, employees appear may be feeling more reticent about jumping ship or not seeing as many opportunities: The number of quits dropped to 3.392 million, the lowest level since January 2021.
—Alicia Wallace, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for reticent 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reticent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to reticent
Dictionary Entries Near reticent
Cite this Entry
“Reticent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reticent. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
reticent
adjective
Share