Word of the Day: February 24

Reticent: reserved in style, restrained or reluctant

This is the type of word that lends me a helping hand when I feel like my literary bag of tricks is running low. If I am writing a story about a quiet, coquettish young lady, it is only a matter of time before I start using the same few words over and over again. Quiet, reserved, shy. Boring, boring, boring. For those of you who get stuck writing "big" every time you mean "big," and "shy" every time you mean "shy," here is a word to break you from your rut.

Here is one way you could use this word in a sentence:

Though today was the final draft deadline, Celia was reticent to submit her first novella for publication; she much preferred that her personal musings stay just that, private and in her old scribbled notebook.

This is the type of word you might want to take for an afternoon tea - or maybe to that stuffy family reunion you have been avoiding for the past few years. Please don't be reticent to use it.