reticent
RET-ih-suntadjMeaning not willing to say much or to share thoughts and feelings
Memory hook RETI-CENT: not one CENT’s worth of words. Ask Lin about her weekend, and you won’t get one cent’s worth of words: just a smile and a shrug. She is reticent.
Usually reticent, Sami surprised everyone with a long, funny speech at his sister’s graduation.
In context Asked about the fire, the reticent witness said only “I saw smoke” and would not add a word, no matter how hard the reporters pressed.
Similar reserved, quiet, tight-lipped, taciturn
Opposite talkative, outspoken, forthcoming
From Latin reticere, “to keep silent”: re (back) + tacere (to be silent), the same root as tacit.