Reluctant vs. Reticent

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Mike from Oakland.

Hi, Mike, how you doing?

I’m well, thanks.

What’s on your mind?

Well, it’s the word reticent.

And it seems to me that, you know, every few years I look it up and it still says that it means, you know, tending not to speak, tending to be silent.

But I only ever hear people using it to mean something more like reluctance.

And I’m wondering if the times have changed and the dictionary has not caught up yet.

Oh, that’s a good question.

And I love that you go back to the dictionary every few years to check on that word.

Yeah, I recently heard Clint Eastwood use it on the radio, and he said he definitely used it as reluctant.

Oh, yeah?

Like, can you give us an example?

Well, I mean, I’ve heard it a few times.

That’s basically what I called it.

But he was on Fresh Air, and he was talking about doing a stunt.

And, you know, it’s when you’re in the middle of a stunt and you realize you could die that you become reticent.

Definitely wasn’t talking about not being willing to say anything.

Really?

Yeah, he strikes me as kind of reticent from time to time.

You know, Mike, personally, I’m reluctant to use reticent for reluctant.

Yeah, me too.

You know, I’m not reticent to use reticent.

And the reason that I prefer to use reticent for not talking very much, traditionally, reticent has meant not talkative, uncommunicative.

And a good way to remember that is the fact that reticent goes back to a Latin root that also gives us the word tacit, silent.

Oh, sure.

Yeah, those two words are connected, reticent and tacit.

And so if you think about it that way, then it’s really clear that reticent is a perfectly good word to describe somebody who doesn’t talk very much, but it really doesn’t, I think reluctant is a much better word if you’re talking about somebody who’s, well, reluctant.

Yeah, I mean, is it acceptable now to use it as reluctant?

That’s the real question.

Yeah, you’re right.

That is the real question.

And you will find, as a secondary definition in a lot of dictionaries, you will find reticent, defined as reluctant.

But I’m reluctant to use reticent that way.

I can see how the confusion comes into play.

When you’re reluctant, not speaking is often a feature of that, right?

So there’s kind of a little bit of an overlap there.

Yeah, there is an overlap.

The connotations of the two words.

I understand the confusion.

I think the distinction is still common enough that you will be appreciated for respecting it.

All right.

Well, thanks so much.

All right, Mike.

Well, thanks for bringing that up.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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