reticence

noun

1. (also, figuratively, uncountable)Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.

   “[Y]ou paſſe ouer their teſtimonies, & his whole diſcourſe out of them, with a fraudulent reticence of the particulars, and thinke to be euen with them, making vp by ſcoffing, what you cannot by arguing, [...]”

   “The painter's absurd fits of jealousy, his wild devotion, his extravagant panegyrics, his curious reticences—he understood them all now, and he felt sorry.”

   “The greatest egotist has his reticenses. It is only during the sessions of sweet silent thought that a man can summon his soul to judgment.”

   “He would not give me any further clue. You must not be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her good. He will speak plainly enough when the time comes, be sure.”

2. (uncountable)A silent and reserved nature.

   “The determined reticence of Jasper, however, was not to be so approached. Impassive, moody, solitary, resolute, so concentrated on one idea, and on its attendant fixed purpose, that he would share it with no fellow-creature, he lived apart from human life.”

3. (uncountable)Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.

   “This is the reticence of temperament, and we see it in children from quite an early age—those children who are trusted by the servants, and are their favourites in consequence, because they tell no tales; but it is a disposition that may become dangerous unless watched, and that is always liable to degenerate into falsehood.”

   “We learn from the Tribune that "the reticence of self-respect" is the proper and polite name for Major [William] McKinley's refusal to answer any question touching his position on the money question. [...] [I]t now appears that the term is also available for the use of candidates for high office, who do not wish to let people know what they think until they are nominated, while it is still not available for small private places.”

4. (proscribed, uncountable)Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).

   “According to Anthony & Astorga (1997), the CATIE collection suffers the loss of some 250 individuals every year, which amounts to a general genetic erosion rate of 3% (4.8% for the wild genotypes). The expense of maintaining these collections, as well as the reticence of sponsors to finance such activities, are perhaps the most important factors affecting this erosion.”

   “The honour of a household is inextricably linked to the reputation of the women who live there [...]. This reputation is sealed by their public display of shame, as manifest in a reticense towards appearing in public places.”

   “Any reticence or wariness I felt for the Professor vanished the moment I saw him with my son, and from that point on I trusted him completely.”

5. (countable, obsolete, rhetoric, uncountable)Synonym of aposiopesis (“an abrupt breaking-off in speech”).

   “If the Comteſſe de la Motte, contented to load me with opprobrious language, and to make uſe of inſidious reticences, does not accept of this formal challenge, I muſt declare to her, once for all, that I ſhall give to all her reticences, to all her obloquy, paſt, preſent, and to come, an anſwer very laconic, perfectly clear, moſt energetic, [...] —Mentiris impudentissime [you lie shamelessly].”

   “Oh! M. de Vieux, this elixir, and the gallows, will suit you … that you may know what it is to enjoy … / He was going to continue, or to be silent, after these reticenses, but Kant interrupted one or both of these things, [...]”

verb

1. (rare, transitive)To deliberately not listen or pay attention to; to disregard, to ignore.

   “[Percy Bysshe] Shelley, a true vates, was called upon by their divine influence to render some choice passages from this very Faust, which, from confessed inability, [Francis Leveson-]Gower had left unattempted in his precious version, and some which from other motives he had purposely reticensed.”

   “It was because he didn't think he'd be recognized that he so ostentatiously lay in ambush—lost and shrouded, a burrowed lay-low, a smoke screen, anonymous, covert, sequestered, disguised and reticenced and secluded, an inference, a stowaway.”

   “[I]n the future, as we give these programs more and more direct control as we lose some of the general, reticenced fear of relying on computational technology, more and more of these errors—and more and more serious errors are going to occur”

   “Aslant mocha—steam swirling, / Daylight searing the blinds / You reticenced that spiky truth: / A rival gorilla in the mists / And I gulped as a giddy spring magic / Turned to something aping madness; [...]”