Word of the Day

: November 24, 2008

reticent

adj RET-uh-sunt

What It Means

1 : inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech : reserved

2 : restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance

3 : reluctant

reticent in Context

Unlike the chatty, gregarious protagonists of his novel, the author is quite reticent in public.

Did You Know?

"Reticent" first appeared about 170 years ago, but the "reluctant" sense of "reticent" is a mid-20th century introduction. Though it is now well-established, this newer sense bothers some people, particularly because it has veered away from the word's Latin origins -- "reticent" is from the verb “reticēre,” meaning "to keep silent." But there is some sense in the way the newer meaning developed. We first tended to use the "reluctant" sense of "reticent" when the context was speech (as in "reticent to talk about her past"), thus keeping the word close to its "silent" sense. Eventually, however, exclusive association with speech was abandoned. Now one can be "reticent" to do anything.