reserved
Americanadjective
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kept or set apart for some particular use or purpose.
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kept by special arrangement for some person.
a reserved seat.
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formal or self-restrained in manner and relationship; avoiding familiarity or intimacy with others.
a quiet, reserved man.
- Synonyms:
- composed, cold, distant, withdrawn, taciturn, constrained, reticent, controlled
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characterized by reserve, as the disposition, manner, etc..
reserved comments.
- Synonyms:
- composed, cold, distant, withdrawn, taciturn, constrained, reticent, controlled
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retaining the original color of a surface, especially when decorating portions of the surface with other colors.
adjective
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set aside for use by a particular person or people
this table is reserved
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cool or formal in manner; restrained, silent, or reticent
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destined; fated
reserved for great things
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referring to matters that are the responsibility of the national parliament rather than a devolved regional assembly
defence is a reserved issue
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reserved
A late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at reserve, -ed 2
Explanation
If you're reserved, you're the opposite of a loudmouth or a cut-up: you're polite, you have a lot of self-control, and you don't show your feelings. Reserved can also mean "set aside." If your seats at a concert are reserved, that means they're saved for you. If there aren't any reserved seats — if it's all general admission — you should get there early to get a good seat.
Vocabulary lists containing reserved
The Great Gatsby
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The Bill of Rights
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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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.
He said that over the last 20 years, there had been just one local full-time soldier running a reserved unit in Shetland but they were now managed from the Scottish mainland.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
The exchange reserved over $6.3 billion of company funds to cover users’ affected assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The company envisions a fleet that could generate billions in annual revenue and reported that 675 people had reserved flights at a cost of $750,000 a ticket by the end of last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Taura is the only Ecuadoran air base reserved exclusively for military use and boasts a runway of more than 3,000 metres, longer than that of Guayaquil's international airport.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Anh had noticed that you got more time when all the other students were done, so she’d reserved the last slot on the darkroom schedule.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
