noncommittal
/ˌnɒnkəˈmɪtl̩/
Etymology
From non- + committal.
noncommittal means tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 74 out of 100.
Why this word is great
NONCOMMITTAL — [Adjective] Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion. From the English prefix non- ("not") + committal ("the act of committing or pledging"). Unlike "reticent," which implies a reserved or discreet silence, or "neutral," which describes a principled stance of impartiality, "noncommittal" denotes the strategic, deliberate cultivation of ambiguity to preserve optionality. It is the diplomat's practiced smile that reveals nothing, the artfully vague email that promises nothing, or the weary parental "We'll see"—a verbal fog bank rolled in to obscure the coastline of decision, for to choose a path is to forsake all others.
adj
- Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion.“The Major's face was noncommittal.”
noun
- Failure to commit to a decision or course of action.“As a result of cowardly noncommittals during the immediate postelection period, there was so much strain on several black-white Democratic relationships that they approached open ruptures.”
- A voter etc. who has not yet committed to a decision.“Where they occur, in the Liberal increases in Quebec and Ontario for instance, they are offset by declines in the number of undecideds or noncommittals.”