taciturnity

[ tas-i-tur-ni-tee ]

noun

1. the state or quality of being reserved or reticent in conversation.
2. Scots Law. the relinquishing of a legal right through an unduly long delay, as by the silence of the creditor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of taciturnity¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin taciturnitās, equivalent to taciturn ( us ) taciturn + -itās -ity

Example Sentences

Cormac McCarthy, 89, the formidable and reclusive writer of Appalachia and the American Southwest, whose raggedly ornate early novels about misfits and grotesques gave way to the lush taciturnity of “All the Pretty Horses” and the apocalyptic minimalism of “The Road,” died Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe, N.M.

From Seattle Times

Cormac McCarthy, the formidable and reclusive writer of Appalachia and the American Southwest, whose raggedly ornate early novels about misfits and grotesques gave way to the lush taciturnity of “All the Pretty Horses” and the apocalyptic minimalism of “The Road,” died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe, N.M.

From New York Times

Their matter-of-factness and taciturnity were traits he tried to emulate.

From Washington Post

Adams said that Washington had “the gift of taciturnity,” meaning he had an instinct for the eloquent silence.

From Literature

She had obviously not heard anything to her advantage: and it seemed to me, from her prolonged fit of gloom and taciturnity, that she herself, notwithstanding her professed indifference, attached undue importance to whatever revelations had been made her.

From Literature