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.
Many of the AI country tunes tap into the genre's archetype of the lone cowboy: a rugged, taciturn, plain-spoken man who, above all, refuses to apologize for simply existing.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
She is as warm and outgoing as he is taciturn and undemonstrative.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
The taciturn Julie is quick to note how different their circumstances are, but Emily gives her some hard-earned wisdom in return.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025
And on another potentially tricky topic, the sacking of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Trump was unusually taciturn.
From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025
The old one was Garth, huge and bald and taciturn, who wore the same greasy leather jerkin every day and always seemed to have a glower on his face.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
