reticent

[reh-TIS-uhnt]

Phonetic (Standard) IPA: (Standard beer reference here)

Popcast Phonetic: “reh-TISS-ent” — say it like someone whispering about spoilers in a movie theater because they’re too polite to shout… even though though everyone can hear them.

Adjective

inclined to be silent or not speak freely; quietly holding back, like that one friend who never picks a pizza topping but loudly critiques everyone else’s choices.

EXPLANATION

Reticent describes someone who prefers restraint over rave-rage, road-rage, rage-bait or any other members of the rage family. Imagine the quiet character in every sitcom — the one who’s probably judging the chaos internally but won’t verbalize it unless it directly affects the cheese-to-sauce ratio. It’s subtle, often thoughtful, and very “I’ll eat my pizza in peace, thank you.”

ORIGIN

This word traces back to Latin reticēre, meaning “to keep silent,” coined in English in the early 1800s — likely around the time people first said, “I have… some thoughts about this… but I’m just gonna eat my pizza instead.”

EXAMPLE

She was reticent about sharing her real movie rating, so she simply nodded over another half-empty popcorn bucket instead and sipped on her soda, pop, coke or whatever you call sweet carbonated beverages where your from.

HOW TO USE

Use reticent when someone avoids speaking up even though everyone else has already shouted their opinions like a sports commentator that placed a sports bet on Draft Kings. For example: “He was reticent during the debate — like someone quietly contemplating light butter on the popcorn without telling anybody.”