ˈred.əsən(t)s, -etəs- noun
( -s )
Etymology: French réticence, from Latin reticentia, from reticent-, reticens (present participle of reticēre to keep silent) + -ia -y
1. : the quality or state or an instance of being reticent : restraint in speaking or communicating : reserve
people who speak their minds and their souls without reticence — Gerald Bullett
difference between stony reticence and a torrent of impulsive unbosoming — W.S.Gilbert
after the death of a writer certain reticences need no longer be observed — Leon Edel
a man of few reticences, the disc jockey must rank among the most thoroughly overt — C.W.Morton
2. : restraint in behavior, expression, or performance
the value of reticence in art — Thomas Wood †1950
accompaniment in duo-piano playing requires even more reticence than is necessary in accompanying a voice or another instrument — A.E.Wier
family was Quakerlike in its emotional reticence — H.S.Canby