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How should you use taciturn?
Taciturn shows up in English in the first half of the 18th century. James Miller, a British clergyman educated at Oxford, gives an early example of its use in his 1734 satiric drama, wherein a character describes a nephew with the following: "When he was little, he never was what they call Roguish or Waggish, but was always close, quiet, and taciturn." It seems we waited unduly long to adopt this useful descendent of the Latin verb tacēre, meaning "to be silent"; we were quicker to adopt other words from the tacēre family. We've been using tacit, an adjective meaning "expressed without words" or "implied," since at least the mid-17th century. And we've had the noun taciturnity, meaning "habitual silence," since at least the mid-15th century.
Synonyms
silent, taciturn, reticent, reserved, secretive mean showing restraint in speaking.
silent implies a habit of saying no more than is needed.
taciturn implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.
reticent implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs.
reserved implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of caution or formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange.
secretive, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousness and lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal.
Examples of taciturn in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'taciturn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Taciturn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taciturn. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
taciturn
adjective
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