沉默寡言：描述性格上不愿多言的特质，如“a reticent scholar”（寡言的学者）[4][7][9]；
态度保留：指不轻易表露想法或情感，如“reticent about opinions”（对观点有所保留）[7][8]；
行为谨慎：强调在表达或行动上的克制，如“reticent in decision-making”（决策时谨慎）[5][8]。
该词源于拉丁语“reticere”（由“re-”表强调和“tacere”表沉默组成）[3] [4] ，19世纪被引入英语体系后，逐渐从“保持安静”的本义扩展为涵盖性格、态度与行为的多维度形容词[3] [9] 。
语体倾向：多用于正式语境[2][4]，如学术文献或文学描述；
搭配范畴：
与介词“about”连用表示保留内容（例：He was reticent about his past.）[7][9]；
修饰描述性格的名词（例：a reticent child）[5][8]。
性格描述：“The scholar was reticent, aloof, and meditative.”（这位学者寡言少语、离群索居且勤于思考）[7][9]；
态度表达：“She remained reticent during the negotiation.”（她在谈判中始终保持谨慎）[4][5]；
行为刻画：“Officials were reticent to disclose financial details.”（官员们对披露财务细节讳莫如深）[8][9]。
注：以上例句均基于截至2025年的权威语料库收录[7] [9] 。
She was morose, pale, and reticent. 她闷闷不乐，面色苍白，沉默寡言。《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》
She was shy and reticent. 她羞怯而寡言少语。《牛津词典》
She is so reticent about her achievements. 她对于自己的成就如此缄默。《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》
He was extremely reticent about his personal life. 他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。《牛津词典》
He is a reticent and modest man. 他是个寡言少语、谦虚谨慎的人。
I am very British in that I'm reticent. 沉默寡言是我非常英国化的一面。
But most analysts are more reticent. 但大多数分析师更倾向于保持沉默。
He is reticent about his early life. 他对自己早年的生活秘而不宣。
Aunty Henny was an outgoing but reticent person. 汉妮伯母是个直爽但又沉默寡言的人。
Replace through the way that reticent between us? 我们之间真的就用沉默来取代了？
And like many Estonians, he is reticent and modest. 和许多爱沙尼亚人类似，他沉默寡言而且谦逊有礼。
He seems unduly reticent on the subject of his past. 他似乎对他过去的事情讳莫如深。
So I lips reticent, but grateful that he still pens. 于是我嘴上不爱说话，但感谢自己还有支笔。
Is a beautiful one interspersed or a reticent onlooker? 一个美丽的点缀，还是一个沉默的旁观者？
When asked about his future prospects, Yao himself was reticent. 当问及他的未来，姚明自己都沉默了。
Her mother, always reticent about the tragedy, died in 1975 at age 95. 她的母亲于1975年去世，享年95岁，一生都对这件悲惨的时候保持沉默。
Ask him about almost anything else in finance and he is far less reticent. 无论问他关于金融的任何事，他的回答都留有余地。
He is still "very reticent about France", says one of those who saw him in Paris. 在巴黎看过他的人中的一个人说，他仍然“对法国保持很高的警惕性。”
A misunderstood Capricorn Moon withdraws into solitude, reticent to share its feelings. 被误解时，摩羯月亮往往会选择孤独，拒绝分享他们的情绪。
Just how much can a polite and reticent people withstand? That is the test for modern China. 现在的问题是，儒雅而沉默的中国人能对此容忍多少，这是对当代中国的一个考验。
Meditation refers to a reticent where your body and brain are consciously relaxed and focused. 冥想指的是一个人沉默着，身体自觉地放松，精神自觉地专注的状态。
A senseless tragedy, it was called, and she was described as a reticent and prematurely aged survivor. 报纸上说这是一场无谓的悲剧，而她被说成是一名早熟而寡言的幸存者
SCIENTISTS trying to detect gravitational waves-ripples in the fabric of space-time-are a reticent lot. 科学家们为了试图发现重力场波动——空间-时间四维结构的扭曲波动——的科学尝试从未停止过。
This has prompted Putin's normally reticent staff to defend the progress under Brezhnev in the Russian media. 这促使往日低调的普京幕僚在俄罗斯媒体上捍卫勃列日涅夫统治下所取得的进步。
Although Lee has become something of a hero since publicizing his involvement with the Open Kinect contest, he is reticent. 尽管自从李公开他在开源Kinect竞赛的参与，他成为了某种意义上的英雄，他依旧沉默如初。
"She had been shy and reticent with me, and now... She was telling me aloud the secrets of her inmost heart" (W. H. Hudson). “她以前和我在一起时很害羞，又沉默寡言，但是现在却大声地对我说出了她最内心的秘密”(w·h·哈德森)。
Lenovo, for example, has had to encourage normally reticent Chinese workers to speak candidly in meetings with American colleagues. 以联想为例，它通常会鼓励很含蓄的中国员工，鼓励他们在与美国同事的会议上可以畅所欲言。
He is reticent at first, saying that it is just for our protection but then says there is a lot of poverty and tension in the town. 警察起先很谨慎，说只是为了保护我们，后来他又说，城里贫困现象严重，气氛很紧张。
But when they do have access to these Numbers, they're often reticent to share them because they're concerned they're not good enough. 但是一旦我们能访问这些数字，他们通常对于分享给我们是很谨慎的，因为他们担心自己不够优秀。[10]