noncommittal

noncommittal

See also: non-committal

English

Alternative forms

• non-commital
• noncommital
• non-committal

Etymology

non- +‎ committal[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌnɒnkəˈmɪtl/[1]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌnɑnkəˈmɪtl/[1]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

noncommittal (comparative more noncommittal, superlative most noncommittal)

1. Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion.

   The Major's face was noncommittal.

   The noncommittal Indians would give no counsel as to fording.

   • 1818, S.R. Wells, The American Phrenonological Journal, and other miscellany, v. 10, p. 234:

     [He] is candid, open-hearted, and hardly non-commmittal enough for his own interest at times.

Derived terms

• noncommittally

Translations

tending to avoid commitment

French: évasif (fr) German: unverbindlich (de) Japanese: どっちつかずの (docchitsukazu no) Korean: (please verify) 언질을 주지 않는; (태도 따위가) 애매한 (eonjireul juji anneun; (taedo ttawiga) aemaehan) Maori: whēangaanga

Norwegian: Bokmål: uforpliktende, reservert Occitan: evasiu, reservat Polish: niezdecydowany (pl) m, wymijający m Turkish: belirsiz (tr), müphem (tr)

See also

• reticent

References

1. “non-committal, adj. and n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [Draft revision; June 2008]