guardedness
Cautious emotional distance
Guardedness is the quality of being careful about what you reveal—a wariness that holds something back.
It suggests deliberate restraint rather than natural reserve: There was a guardedness in her answers that made me suspicious.
The word often implies distrust or self-protection, as when someone has been hurt before and now approaches relationships with guardedness.
Supply kept back
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- aloofnessEmotional unavailability, standoffishness
- detachmentSeparation or emotional uninvolvement
distance · coolness · restraint · inhibition · self-containment · undemonstrative · closed-off · self-protection
Cautious distrust
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- prudenceCareful, wise judgment
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
heedfulness · carefulness · watchfulness · alertness · foresight · mindfulness · precaution · judiciousness
Sense of unease about motives
- warinessCautious distrust
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
- mistrustLack of faith
- doubtLack of firm belief
misgiving · unease · apprehension · leery · questioning · cynicism · paranoia · incredulity
Change in trajectory
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- armoredProtected by metal covering
- shieldedProtected from harm
- walled-offEnclosed by barriers
fortified · bristling · prickliness · standoffishness · rebuff · barrier · self-defense · protectiveness
reserve
Supply kept back
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- aloofnessEmotional unavailability, standoffishness
detachment · distance · coolness · restraint · inhibition · self-containment · undemonstrative · closed-off · self-protection · walls
wariness
Cautious distrust
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- prudenceCareful, wise judgment
discretion · heedfulness · carefulness · watchfulness · alertness · foresight · mindfulness · precaution · judiciousness · deliberation
suspicion
Sense of unease about motives
- warinessCautious distrust
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
- mistrustLack of faith
doubt · misgiving · unease · apprehension · leery · questioning · cynicism · paranoia · incredulity · scrutiny
deflection
Change in trajectory
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- armoredProtected by metal covering
- shieldedProtected from harm
walled-off · fortified · bristling · prickliness · standoffishness · rebuff · barrier · self-defense · protectiveness · bracing
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- carefulnessattention, attentiveness, care, carefulness, caution
- cautioncareful, be careful, cautious, caution, watch out
- personality traitsextraversion, agreeableness, introvert, neuroticism, temperament
- prudencecaution, discretion, foresight, forethought, judiciousness
- vigilancewatchfulness, vigilant, alertness, watchful, attentiveness
guardednessopenness
Quality of being accessible
candor · vulnerability · transparency · warmth · effusiveness
guardednessrecklessness
Careless disregard for danger
abandon · incaution · carelessness · foolhardiness · rashness
guardednesstrustfulness
Readiness to believe others
naivete · credulity · gullibility · blind trust · innocence