taciturn
Americanadjective
-
inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.
- Synonyms:
- quiet, reticent, uncommunicative, silent
-
dour, stern, and silent in expression and manner.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of taciturn
First recorded in 1765–75; from Latin taciturnus, “quiet, maintaining silence,” equivalent to tacit(us) “silent” ( see tacit) + -urnus adjective suffix of time
Explanation
Someone who is taciturn is reserved, not loud and talkative. The word itself refers to the trait of reticence, of seeming aloof and uncommunicative. A taciturn person might be snobby, naturally quiet, or just shy. Having its origin in the Latin tacitus, "silent," taciturn came to be used in mid-18th-century English in the sense "habitually silent." Taciturnity is often considered a negative trait, as it suggests someone uncommunicative and too quiet. Jane Austen wrote, "We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."
Vocabulary lists containing taciturn
To Kill a Mockingbird
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Animal Farm
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Grade 10, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet consistency over 17 seasons — 15 with the Angels and one each with the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves — was the hallmark of the taciturn left fielder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
She is as warm and outgoing as he is taciturn and undemonstrative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
The new bridge, constructed with Turkish assistance, was recently completed under the watchful eye of a professional, if taciturn, Ugandan army unit.
From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025
The performance is taciturn and nonverbal; he’s got a mouthpiece in Will Patton’s folksy narration, but what Edgerton is doing is worth leaning in for, complex and fascinating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
I have always heard that Maine people are rather taciturn, but for this candidate for Mount Rushmore to point twice in an afternoon was to be unbearably talkative.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
