undemonstrative love

undemonstrative

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not disposed to expressions of feeling; reserved.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not demonstrative or given to excited or strong expression of feeling; reserved, from modesty, diffidence, or policy: as, an undemonstrative person; undemonstrative manners.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective not given to showing emotion or feelings; reserved or distant

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not given to open expression of emotion

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Even when it is a practical, living thing that can be felt and built on, it is often almost cold-bloodedly inarticulate and undemonstrative, which is the only kind of sympathy acceptable to a man in trouble, especially a man of Druro's type, who did not want to discuss the thing at all, but just to take what was coming to him with a stiff lip.

    Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa Cynthia Stockley

  • Their son, John, who was ten at the time of his mother's first psychiatric hospitalization, found his father, the man who was then revered as "America's doctor," to be "undemonstrative" and someone who made him feel "judged, criticized, scared [and] beaten down."

    Evangelists for Kids Halpern, Sue 2003

  • Clean-cut Hurts duo Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson are aiming for a kind of undemonstrative Pet Shop Boys studiousness in their personal presentation, reflected in the well-manicured lines of their classy pop songs.

    Belfasttelegraph.co.uk - Frontpage RSS Feed 2010

  • He seemed to believe, in an undemonstrative sort of way, that elections were consequential events in the life of a country, and that however puerile and disingenuous campaigns could be, their purpose was important.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • He seemed to believe, in an undemonstrative sort of way, that elections were consequential events in the life of a country, and that however puerile and disingenuous campaigns could be, their purpose was important.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • He seemed to believe, in an undemonstrative sort of way, that elections were consequential events in the life of a country, and that however puerile and disingenuous campaigns could be, their purpose was important.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • I am not generally a flag-waving hand-on-heart type of guy; my patriotism is quieter, just about silent and always most undemonstrative.

    William Fisher: The Fall and Rise of a Lovely Day William Fisher 2010

  • The undemonstrative Kessel packed 30 goals into 63 games before falling back at the end (no goals in his final six starts).

    Toronto Maple Leafs Team Report 2010

  • I am not generally a flag-waving hand-on-heart type of guy; my patriotism is quieter, just about silent and always most undemonstrative.

    William Fisher: The Fall and Rise of a Lovely Day William Fisher 2010

  • He was a kindly, easy-going man; but, after the way of a large percentage of the Western stock, he was undemonstrative.

    CHAPTER XIX 2010

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