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Reticence vs Abstinence - What's the difference?

reticence | abstinence |

As nouns the difference between reticence and abstinence

is that reticence is reticence while abstinence is the act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite .

reticence

English

Noun

  • tight-lippedness, discretion, avoidance of saying too much
  • a silent and reserved nature
  • Quotations

    * 1890 , Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray : *:Basil's absurd fits of jealousy, his wild devotion, his extravagant panegyrics, his curious reticences , — he understood them all now, and he felt sorry. * 1897 , Bram Stoker, Dracula : *: You must not be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that all his brains are working for her good.(attention)

    Synonyms

    * reserve, secrecy, taciturnity * bashfulness, demureness, diffidence, quietness, reservation, shyness, timidity

    Antonyms

    * openness, talkativeness * loquaciousness, ostentation

    abstinence

    Alternative forms

    * abstinency

    Noun

    (-)
  • The act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite.
  • Penance, fasts, and abstinence , / To punish bodies for the soul's offense. -
    The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one.
    Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.
  • # Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating/alcoholic beverages; total abstinence; teetotalism).
  • # Specifically, the practice of abstaining from sexual intercourse, either permanently or until marriage.
  • # (ecclesiastical) Abstention from certain foods on days of penitential observance.
  • The practice of self-denial; self-restraint; forebearance from anything.
  • (obsolete) Self-denial; abstaining; or forebearance of anything.
  • (business) Delay of spending to accrue capital.
  • See also

    * abstention * continence * asexual

    References

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