keeping one's counsel
Not revealing thoughts
Keeping one's counsel means staying silent about one's thoughts, plans, or knowledge—choosing not to share what you know or think.
The phrase suggests deliberate discretion rather than mere quietness: She kept her own counsel about the merger until the deal was finalized.
Someone who keeps their counsel may be wise, strategic, or simply private.
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
- self-controlAbility to restrain impulses
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- taciturnityDisinclined to speak
- privacyFreedom from observation
discretion · confidentiality · need to know · non-disclosure · reserve · diplomacy · tact · prudence · guardedness · muteness · saying nothing · secrecy · subtlety · selectivity · indirectness · patience · hush · timing
keeping one's counselspilling the beans
Disclosing confidential information
blabbing · speaking one's mind · wearing one's heart on one's sleeve · oversharing · opening up
keeping one's counselshooting one's mouth off
Talking boastfully or indiscreetly
loose lips · indiscretion · blabbing · speaking out of turn · gossiping
keeps, keeper, keepers, keeping, keepsake, oneness, counsel, counsels, counseled