taciturn means silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak. It carries an Arena rating of 1729, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, taciturn ranks #657 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #3,206 of 17,093 for Most Storied Words, #5,630 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #7,165 of 17,122 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
taciturn is pronounced /ˈtæsɪtɜːn/.
Why “taciturn” is a great word
Temperamentally disinclined to talk; habitually silent or reserved in speech. From French *taciturne* (15th c.), from Latin *taciturnus* ("not talkative, silent"), itself from *tacitus* ("secret, silent, tacit"), first attested in English c. 1650s, likely a back-formation from *taciturnity*. Unlike "prolix" (which drowns its subject in words) or "talkative" (which spills them forth in a cheerful stream), "taciturn" describes a quiet distilled into character. It is the fisherman hunched on the dock at dawn, saying nothing as mist curls off the water; the old man nodding in a sunlit window, fingers tracing the rim of a cooling cup; the unbroken companionship of two people who no longer need words to bridge the space between them. It is not emptiness, but a fullness that refuses translation—a reticence so complete it becomes its own kind of eloquence.
Etymology
Back-formation from taciturnity, from Middle English taciturnite, from Latin taciturnitās; or alternatively from French taciturne, likely reinforced by Latin taciturnus, from tacitus (“secret, tacit”).
adj
- Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.e.g.“The two sisters could hardly have been more different, one so boisterous and expressive, the other so taciturn and calm.”
Words closest in meaning
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