For some reason, people constantly misuse the word reticent. I’ve heard fellow Harvard grad students, federal politicians, and radio-tv callers all use reticent when they mean reluctant: “every since I was conned out of $1000, I’ve been reticent to trust salespeople.” Drives me crazy. So here it is, once and for all:
reticent |ˈretəsənt| adjective not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily : she was extremely reticent about her personal affairs.
reluctant |riˈləktənt| adjective unwilling and hesitant; disinclined : [with infinitive ] she seemed reluctant to discuss the matter.
Apparently, however, reluctant has recently been accepted as a secondary definition of reticent, due to its commons misuse. I don’t buy it. For more on the controversy
see here.
Popularity: 100% [?]
February 17th, 2007 at 9:48 pm (#)
however, I fear the word would fall into complete disuse, but for the alternative definition by usage which would be a shame because it is has a special ring to it – likewise, people never close their dates with a comma if the date acts as an identitifier – “your April 7th, 2006 letter” should be “your …. 2006, letter” – I have learned to accept this, although I don’t concede it inasmuch as it does seem more sublime even though incorrect. Doug
April 14th, 2008 at 8:06 pm (#)
It would bother me to no end if I ever heard this particular mistake being made. Because so many language and grammar mistakes already get on my nerves, I hope not to encounter this one ever in actual life as well.
It would seem to me that the definition of reticent being “reluctant or disinclined to speak” is what gets people. Sloppy!
February 20th, 2010 at 3:29 am (#)
I could not agree more about this pet peeve. I’m in the medical field, and the mistake seems to have infiltrated my ostensibly educated colleagues, some of whom irritatingly correct others for their own grammar mistakes, though are completely obvlivious of their own. (misspelling ironically intended, as I make my own mistakes, to)
August 8th, 2010 at 9:17 am (#)
I stumbled on your site while I was looking up the definition of reticent. I purposely looked this word up before including it in a review I was typing about a restaurant because it didn’t seem like it meant what I wanted it to mean. It didn’t. I can see how its confused though; reluctant + resistant = reticent.
I tell you my pet peeve (and I don’t know if you’ve written about this yet): the lack of proper adverb use. For example, “It landed perfect.” Just heard that on one of those hour-long dramas on TNT. It drives me absolutely crazy.