taciturn

taciturn
adjective
tac·;i·;turn ;ta-s;-;t;rn
Synonyms of taciturn
: temperamentally disinclined to talk
taciturnity
;ta-s;-;t;r-n;-t;
 noun


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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 tac;re, meaning "to be silent"; we were quicker to adopt other words from the tac;re 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
closemouthed
dumb
laconic
reserved
reticent
silent
tight-lipped
uncommunicative
Choose the Right Synonym for taciturn

silent, taciturn, reticent, reserved, secretive mean showing restraint in speaking.

silent implies a habit of saying no more than is needed.

the strong, silent type
taciturn implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.

taciturn villagers
reticent implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs.

was reticent about his plans
reserved implies reticence and suggests the restraining influence of caution or formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange.

greetings were brief, formal, and reserved
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
Examples of taciturn in a Sentence
I went on speech strike … remaining defiantly taciturn through a procession of speech therapists and psychotherapists, verbalizing only to the gardener and swearing him to silence.
—Simon Schama, New Republic, 22 July 2002
The pipe-smoking Malcolm Cowley … though a faithful fellow-traveller, was too taciturn usually to show his hand.
—Mary McCarthy, Granta 27, Summer 1989
She was a small, taut, pale, wiry London girl, alarmingly taciturn, demon at basketball (at which she captained us) …
—Elizabeth Bowen, The Mulberry Tree, 1986
When he got to the substation that night, this private taciturn fellow had to spill his guts. If he didn't tell somebody, he might blow like a land mine.
—Joseph Wambaugh, Lines and Shadows, 1984
Recent Examples on the Web
Starring Rashida Jones, Sunny tells the story of Suzie Sakamoto, a taciturn American woman living in Kyoto, whose life is upended by tragedy after her husband Masahiko (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and son Zen (Fares Belkheir) disappear in a mysterious plane crash.
—Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Sep. 2024
If the taciturn grumblypuss absolutely killed it in his ManningCast debut, the first show was marred by some apparent technical difficulties.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 13 Sep. 2024
Her latest commences with a series of silent scenes: A large family awakens for the day, a cow is lovingly milked, and ladlefuls of its warm milk are doled out to this taciturn brood.
—Leila Latif, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2024
So the outgoing trio, best friends off the field, expanded their group to include their taciturn teammate while doing their best to draw her out.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2024
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.


Word History
Etymology
French or Latin; French taciturne, from Middle French, from Latin taciturnus, from tacitus — see tacit

First Known Use
1734, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of taciturn was in 1734
See more words from the same year