keep one's counsel
Guard your thoughts
To keep one's counsel is to remain silent about one's thoughts, plans, or opinions—to withhold what you know rather than share it.
The phrase suggests deliberate discretion rather than mere quietness: She kept her counsel during the meeting, revealing nothing of her strategy.
Someone who keeps their own counsel is characteristically private or guarded about their intentions.
- hushAbsence of sound
- quietLacking in sound
- hold one's tongueDeliberately not speak
- taciturnityDisinclined to speak
- silenceTotal lack of sound
bite one's lip · reticence · privacy · self-control · non-disclosure · circumspection · trustworthiness · whisper · say nothing · deliberation · prudence · need to know · tight-lipped · confidentiality · composure · discretion · lips · loose lips
keep one's counselspeak one's mind
State opinions openly
blurt out · spill the beans · let the cat out of the bag · open up · blab
keep one's counselfly off the handle
Lose temper suddenly
blow up · explode · let it all hang out · lose one's temper · lash out
keep, keeps, keeper, keepers, keeping, upkeep, ones, counsel, counsels