kept one's own counsel
Withheld personal thoughts
To keep one's own counsel is to stay silent about one's thoughts, plans, or opinions—to refrain from sharing what you know or intend.
The phrase suggests deliberate discretion rather than mere quietness: She kept her own counsel about the merger until the board meeting.
Someone who keeps their own counsel may be cautious, strategic, or simply private.
- introversionInward-directed temperament
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
- self-relianceDepending on oneself alone
- confidentialityQuality of protecting secrets
- need to knowRestricted information access basis
secrecy · cards close to chest · circumspection · prudence · discretion · bit one's tongue · tactfulness · guardedness · reserve · held back · taciturnity · said nothing · non-disclosure · diplomacy · quietness · buttoned up · self-sufficiency · stoicism
kept one's own counselspoke one's mind
Shared candid views
confided · spilled the beans · let it all out · wore one's heart on one's sleeve · opened up
keeping, keeper, keepers, owning, owners, disown, disowned, counsel, counsels