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reserved

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verb

past tense of reserve

Synonym Chooser

How is the word reserved distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of reserved are reticent, secretive, silent, and taciturn. While all these words mean "showing restraint in speaking," reserved implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of caution or formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange.

greetings were brief, formal, and reserved

When could reticent be used to replace reserved?

While the synonyms reticent and reserved are close in meaning, reticent implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs.

was reticent about his plans

When would secretive be a good substitute for reserved?

In some situations, the words secretive and reserved are roughly equivalent. However, secretive, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousness and lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal.

the secretive research and development division

When is it sensible to use silent instead of reserved?

The meanings of silent and reserved largely overlap; however, silent implies a habit of saying no more than is needed.

the strong, silent type

Where would taciturn be a reasonable alternative to reserved?

While in some cases nearly identical to reserved, taciturn implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.

taciturn villagers

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of reserved
Adjective
Masella had suspected the reserved ‘Robert’ from the gym was a professor or an academic. Caitlin Danaher, CNN Money, 17 May 2025 And after all of that: a reserved viewing space on Pier 17. Laurie Werner, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
Verb
And there were also a couple dozen members of the public seated to witness the court proceedings and they were seated in the back of the courtroom in a couple of rows that are reserved for members of the public. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2025 This type of funeral is typically reserved for line-of-duty deaths, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council. Lauren De Young, The Arizona Republic, 3 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for reserved
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reserved
Adjective
  • With 66 distinct incidents logged between January and late June, the state has had reports of an array of mysterious aerial objects, ranging from glowing orbs and silent triangles to fast-moving disks and shape-shifting lights.
    Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 7 July 2025
  • Once you’re negatively labeled, even your best work struggles to break through the silent barrier those words create.
    Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
Verb
  • Producers hold onto their rights and their IP and the value from our spend is retained in the UK, not across the Atlantic.
    Jake Kanter, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Leicester have retained their former men’s training ground, Belvoir Drive, just outside the city centre, which is situated in a housing estate, and there is so far no information on the Land Registry of a sale.
    Rob Tanner, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • These moves have prompted concern among segments of Trump's base supportive of a restrained international role, raising questions about the administration's direction ahead of a crucial 2026 midterm election cycle.
    Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
  • As Rick, Goggins got to show longtime fans and incoming members of his fan club a rarer side of the actor: quiet, restrained, in deep amounts of unspoken pain.
    Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2025
Verb
  • At the time, details of the proposal were being kept under wraps.
    Ashlyn Robinette, People.com, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Alli Jo refuted that everyone hated Carolina, claiming that Carolina kept to herself and did not interact with the majority of the women.
    Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 11 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Brown devoted Wednesdays to mobility and conditioning after years of just incorporating it into his daily workouts.
    Chandler Rome, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
  • The special section of Art Bulletin—which, as the discipline’s flagship journal, constitutes a semiofficial statement about AI’s importance in the field—devoted the majority of its space to critical commentary about the application of computer vision to works of art.
    Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.
    Daniel Jackson, Allure, 18 July 2017
  • Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.
    Andy Benoit, The MMQB, 10 July 2017
Verb
  • Also, the Heat held the NBA’s 14th-worst record at the start of the skid and now has the league’s eighth-worst record this season.
    Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2025
  • The couple married on July 25, 2020, and held their wedding celebration on July 9, 2022, at MSU’s Breslin Student Events Center, where the basketball team plays.
    Alexandra Hurtado, People.com, 22 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Some sets were constructed in Toronto, disassembled and shipped out and have now been preserved for a potential second season.
    Amber Dowling, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Yet Flores would like to see our historic places — which are in fact the city’s Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) — not preserved.
    Bruce D Coons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Reserved.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reserved. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.

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