Definition of reticence
1 : the quality or state of being reticent : reserve, restraint
2 : an instance of being reticent
3 : reluctance 1
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Examples of reticence in a Sentence
the publisher's reticence to make content available online for free
Recent Examples of reticence from the Web
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Public reticence does not necessarily imply a lack of planning.
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Despite the Marines’ reticence the names of the crash victims are appearing on Facebook posts and other social media.
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One day before a tournament at Winchester when Ahmed was 11, First Tee executive director Angie Dixon, seeing Ahmed’s reticence, took her hand – and changed her life.
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At times, Cullinan revealed a witty self-awareness of her reticence.
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That may be caution over how tenuous the recovery may be, owners wanting to make up for past losses, or just a general reticence to raising payroll.
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Lawmakers hungry for answers and frustrated by the reticence of national security executives to provide them.
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Her reticence becomes a kind of resistance to his aggressive curiosity.
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Critics from Trilling to James Mellow—in Invented Lives, his stylish portrait of the Fitzgeralds’ marriage—have noted the old-fashioned chivalry, or reticence, in Fitzgerald’s discussion of sex.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'reticence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of reticence
1603
Learn More about reticence
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for reticence Spanish Central: Translation of reticence Nglish: Translation of reticence for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of reticence for Arabic speakers
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