reticence
/ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/
"reticence" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reticence” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #47,304 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #47,304
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | reticence |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #47,304 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reticence” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for reticence is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/. Corpus data places it at rank #47,304 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for reticence, with forms such as "erticence", "reitcence", and "retcience". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "reticent", "residence", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is borrowed from Middle French réticence (“act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis”) (modern French réticence (“tight-lippedness, reticence”)), or derived from its etymon Latin reticentia (“act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis”)… The correct English form is reticence, spelled R-E-T-I-C-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.
- 2A silent and reserved nature.
- 3Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.
- 4Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).
- 5Synonym of aposiopesis (“an abrupt breaking-off in speech”).
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Middle French réticence (“act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis”) (modern French réticence (“tight-lippedness, reticence”)), or derived from its etymon Latin reticentia (“act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis”), from reticēns (“keeping silent, reticent, silent; keeping secret, concealing”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Reticēns is the present active participle of reticeō (“to keep silent; to keep secret, conceal”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + taceō (“to be silent, keep quiet”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tak- or *tHk-). The English word is cognate with Italian reticenza (“reticence”), Portuguese reticência, Spanish reticencia (“reticence; reluctance”). The verb is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erticence,reitcence,retcience,reticance,reticcence,reticecne,reticencce,reticenec,reticennce,reticnece,retiecnce,retticence,rreticence,rteicence
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reticence - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "reticence"?
What does "reticence" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "reticence"?
How do you pronounce "reticence"?
What is the origin of the word "reticence"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “reticence”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-T-I-C-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “reticent” - see the side-by-side comparison. reticence vs reticent
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.