as in reluctance
a lack of willingness or desire to do or accept something
the publisher's reticence to make content available online for free
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Recent Examples of reticence
That reticence could conceivably involve suppressing concerns about how the U.S. military’s increasing involvement in domestic missions is placing strains on resources and readiness.
—
Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2025
The city’s reticence, per the emails, centered around its request to view the records of antisemitic incidents in Boston that were referenced in Terrell’s letter to Wu.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2025
The reticence from Goldman was particularly jarring given that last week several major Wall Street chieftains, including Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, were more direct in their assessment of the turmoil.
—Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Although so highly esteemed, the notoriously taciturn director would often frustrate his colleagues by his reticence to explain his directorial intentions.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reticence
Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2025
The city’s reticence, per the emails, centered around its request to view the records of antisemitic incidents in Boston that were referenced in Terrell’s letter to Wu.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2025
The reticence from Goldman was particularly jarring given that last week several major Wall Street chieftains, including Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, were more direct in their assessment of the turmoil.
—Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Although so highly esteemed, the notoriously taciturn director would often frustrate his colleagues by his reticence to explain his directorial intentions.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reticence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reticence
reluctance
Noun
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Perhaps what’s driving continued reluctance to cover these products for weight loss is the overall impact that GLP-1s have on employers’ pharmacy budgets.—
Joshua P. Cohen,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
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But that would be a huge change in direction, given his consistent reluctance to confront and punish the Kremlin so far.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reticence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reticence. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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