2020-12-26
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด R – Reluctant & reticent
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
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Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Reluctant = ‘ri-LUHK-tuhnt’
ออกเสียง reticent = ‘RET-uh-suhnt’
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
reluctant
= disinclined; unwilling to act:
She’s reluctant to report him to the police.
Not to be confused with:
reticent= unwilling to speak; reserved; taciturn, uncommunicative:
She was reticent to answer our questions.
Dictionary.com
SYNONYM STUDY FOR RELUCTANT
Reluctant, loath, averse
describe disinclination toward something.
Reluctant implies some sort of mental struggle,
as between disinclination and sense of duty:
reluctant to expel students.
Loath describes extreme disinclination:
loath to part from a friend.
Averse, used with to and a noun or a gerund,
describes a long-held dislike or unwillingness,
though not a particularly strongfeeling:
averse to an idea; averse to getting up early.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language
Usage:
Reticent is quite commonly used nowadays as a synonym of reluctant
and followed by to and a verb.
In careful writing it is advisable to avoid this use,
since many people would regard it as mistaken.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
ret′i·cence (-səns) adv.
ret′i·cent·ly adv.
Usage Note:
Reticent is generally used to indicate a reluctance to speak.
Most commentators on usage have criticized its extended use
as an all-purpose synonym for reluctant.
In our 2001 survey, 83 percent of the Panel foundunacceptable the sentence
A lot of out-of-towners are reticent to come to the Twin Cities for a ballgame if there's a chance the game will be rained out.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for reluctant
DISINCLINED, HESITANT, RELUCTANT, LOATH, AVERSE
mean lacking the will or desireto do something indicated.
DISINCLINED implies lack of taste for or inclination.
disinclined to move again disinclined for reading
HESITANT implies a holding back especially through fear or uncertainty.
hesitant about asking for a date
RELUCTANT implies a holding back through unwillingness.
a reluctant witness
LOATH implies hesitancy because of conflict with one's opinions, predilections, or liking.
seems loath to trust anyone
AVERSE implies a holding back from or avoiding because of distaste or repugnance.
averse to hard work
not averse to an occasional drink
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for reticent
SILENT, TACITURN, RETICENT, RESERVED, SECRETIVE
mean showing restraint in speaking.
SILENT implies a habit of saying no more than is needed.
the strong, silent type
TACITURN implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.
taciturn villagers
RETICENT implies a reluctance to speak out or at length, especially about one's own affairs. was reticent about his plans
RESERVED impliesreticence and suggests the restraining influence of cautionor formality in checking easy informal conversational exchange.
greetings were brief, formal, and reserved
SECRETIVE, too, implies reticence but usually carries a suggestion of deviousnessand lack of frankness or of an often ostentatious will to conceal.
the secretive research and development division
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The History of Reticent Is Less Than200 Years Old
Reticent first appeared about 170 years ago,
but the "reluctant" sense of "reticent" is a mid-20th century introduction.
Though it is now well-established,
this newer sense bothers some people,
particularly because it has veered away from the word's Latin origins
- "reticent" is from the verb "reticēre," meaning "to keep silent."
But there is some sense in the way the newer meaning developed.
We first tended to use the "reluctant" sense of "reticent"
when the context was speech (as in "reticent to talk about her past"),
thus keeping the word close to its"silent" sense.
Eventually, however, exclusive association with speech was abandoned. Now one can be "reticent" to do anything.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Can 'Reticent' Be Used to Mean 'Reluctant'?
We're not at all reticent to tell you it can
The word reticent is a Latin borrowing of the early 1800s.
It comes from reticēre, meaning "to keep silent,"
and was ushered into English with
a meaning of "inclined to be silent or uncommunicative."
It was used by the likes of George Eliot and Ralph Waldo Emerson
to describe those reserved folk who keep mumwhen others might yammer on—or even just mutter a word or two—about something.
While 'reticent' originally meant "inclined to be silent,"
it can now also be used as a synonym for 'reluctant'
—most often in the case of reluctant communication.
Within 50 years, the word had started to develop a broadermeaning. Instead of just describing those who are reluctant to speak,
it was being used to describe those who are just plain reluctant.
Usually, though,
the idea being communicated was the same aswith the original use:
phrases like "reticent to give information"
and "reticent about speaking of it"
maintained the "inclined not to talk" meaning.
Reticent meaning "hesitant" or "reluctant"
is most frequently followed by "to"and a verb.
In the early part of the 20th century
reticent to wasn't all that common,
and when it was used it was followed by verbs
that preserved that original "inclined not to talk" meaning, like discuss and talk.
Or it was followed by no verb at all,
as in phrases like "reticent to a fault" or "reticent to us."
But as the 20th century wore on,
the use of reticent to mean "hesitant" increased,
and by the 1940s reticent to was increasingly
being followed by verbs like accept, participate, and commit.
When reticent means"reluctant" or "hesitant" today,
it often does so in the context of reluctant communication of one kind or another.
The use is fully established, though, for other contexts too.
Another note:
reticent developed another meaningaround the same time as
the "reluctant" one, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone.
The "restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance"
meaning is also fully established.
Some people like to use it to describe wines
that haven't matured enough to speak their full aromatic minds yet.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Trending: ‘reticent’
Lookups spiked 2,300% on May 21, 2019
Why are people looking up reticent?
Why are people looking up reticent?
Reticent spiked on May 21, 2019,
after CNN first reported the apparent reluctance of
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team to seeing him testify before Congress.
According to their report:
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has expressed reticence to him testifying publicly in front of the House Judiciary Committee
The headline for CNN's article, however,
used the word hesitant rather than reticent:
Special counsel's team hesitant about Mueller testifying publicly, part of hold up securing testimony
What does reticent mean?
The oldest meaning of reticence is
"the quality or state of being inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech,"
a synonym of "reserve" and "restraint."
Over time, it came to mean, more broadly,
"an instance of being restrained inexpression, presentation, or appearance."
The word's meaning then broadened again to be
a synonym of reluctance,
indicating usage that goes beyond verbal restraint.
Where does reticent come from?
Reticence traces back to the Latin verb reticēre,
meaning "to keep silent," made up from re- + tacēre ("to be silent"),
which is also the root of tacit.
What is notable about this use of reticent?
Many people wish that the reticence and reticent
had retained their “silent, uncommunicative” meanings,
and find that the use of either to refer to “reluctance” is unseemly.
While these new senses may have strayed somewhat from their etymology, there is no doubt that they are now firmly part of our language.
We have been using this word in a “reluctant” sense since the 19th century.
He adds that $6,000,000 of bonds under his recent $25,000,000 offer are still lacking and intimates that until these bonds have been offered he will be reticent to extend further aid. —Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10 Dec. 1899
The wheat market quieted down yesterday. Growers are exhibiting a reticence to dispose of their crops in hopes of better prices on account of the Transvaal war.— The Daily Ledger (Tacoma, WA), 13 Nov. 1899
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
Reluctant & reticent
“Reticent” denotes only reluctanceto speak;
do not use it for any other form of reluctance.
