reticent
re- (expressing intensive force) + tacere ‘be silent’
/icons/point.icon SILENT, TACITURN, RETICENT, RESERVED, SECRETIVE mean showing restraint in speaking.
SILENT implies a habit of saying no more than is needed.
e.g. the strong, silent type
TACITURN implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.
e.g. taciturn villagers
RETICENT implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs.
e.g. was reticent about his plans
RESERVED implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of caution or formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange.
e.g. greetings were brief, formal, and reserved
SECRETIVE, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousness and lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal.
e.g. the secretive research and development division
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adjective
not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily:
｟かたく｠ «…について» 寡黙な, 口の重い(silent) «about» ; 〈表現が〉控えめな
e.g. she was extremely reticent about her personal affairs.
DERIVATIVES
reticently | ˈredəs(ə)ntlē | adverb
ORIGIN
mid 19th century: from Latin reticent- ‘remaining silent’, from the verb reticere, from re- (expressing intensive force) + tacere ‘be silent’.