keeping counsel
Holding your tongue
Keeping counsel means staying silent about something you know, especially when discretion is wise or expected.
To keep one's own counsel is to keep thoughts private rather than share them.
A person who keeps counsel guards secrets or refrains from offering opinions: She kept her counsel during the meeting, revealing nothing of her plans.
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
- guardednessDefensive emotional reserve
- holding backPreventing forward movement
- secrecyPractice of hiding information
- taciturnityDisinclined to speak
prudence · circumspection · self-restraint · withholding · poker face · close-mouthed · privacy · trustworthiness · tight-lipped · non-disclosure · vow of silence · sworn to secrecy · under wraps · integrity · reserve · discretion · tact · deliberation
keeping counselspilling the beans
Disclosing confidential information
blabbing · gossiping · spreading rumors · disclosing · revealing
keeping counselbabbling
Incoherent or infantile speech
prattling · chattering · speaking out of turn · gabbing · shooting one's mouth off
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