taciturnity
Disposition toward quietness
Taciturnity is the quality of being habitually silent or uncommunicative.
Where reticence suggests holding back on a particular topic, taciturnity describes a general disposition toward few words: His taciturnity made him a poor dinner companion.
The word carries a formal, literary tone.
Disinclined to speak freely
- withdrawnEmotionally distant, disengaged
- guardedWary and restrained
- aloofEmotionally withdrawn, uninviting
- privateRestricted to certain parties
introverted · discreet · self-contained · restrained · unassertive · modest · demure · diffident
State of calm stillness
- mutenessInability to speak
- speechlessnessInability to speak
- wordlessnessLacking verbal expression
- hushAbsence of sound
stillness · voicelessness · reticence · unresponsiveness · soundlessness · inarticulacy · quiescence · inexpressiveness
Uncomplaining endurer of hardship
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- stolidUnemotional and calm
- phlegmaticUnemotionally calm, slow-reacting
- undemonstrativeNot showing feelings openly
inexpressive · inscrutable · impenetrable · enigmatic · poker-faced · sphinx-like · imperturbable · detached
Brief in expression
- terseBrief to bluntness
- succinctExpressed with minimal words
- conciseBriefly and clearly stated
- pithyConcise and forceful
curt · clipped · monosyllabic · sparing · elliptical · epigrammatic · sententious · gnomic
reticent
Disinclined to speak freely
- withdrawnEmotionally distant, disengaged
- guardedWary and restrained
- aloofEmotionally withdrawn, uninviting
private · introverted · discreet · self-contained · restrained · unassertive · modest · demure · diffident · bashful
quietude
State of calm stillness
- mutenessInability to speak
- speechlessnessInability to speak
- wordlessnessLacking verbal expression
hush · stillness · voicelessness · reticence · unresponsiveness · soundlessness · inarticulacy · quiescence · inexpressiveness · nonverbal
stoic
Uncomplaining endurer of hardship
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- stolidUnemotional and calm
- phlegmaticUnemotionally calm, slow-reacting
undemonstrative · inexpressive · inscrutable · impenetrable · enigmatic · poker-faced · sphinx-like · imperturbable · detached · distant
laconic
Brief in expression
pithy · curt · clipped · monosyllabic · sparing · elliptical · epigrammatic · sententious · gnomic · aphoristic
- brevitybrevity, concise, succinct, terse, pithy
- inactioninaction, passivity, doing nothing, stillness, immobility
- introversionintroversion, solitude, alone time, isolation, loner
- silencequiet, silent, mute, hush, stillness
- quiet thingsshush, whisper, murmur, stillness, silence
- Avoiding Answersdodge, evade, deflect, sidestep, evasive
taciturnityloquacity
Excessive inclination to speak
talkativeness · garrulity · garrulousness · volubility · chattiness
taciturnitygregariousness
Love of being social
sociability · communicativeness · outgoingness · extroversion · expansiveness