Discreet

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Discreet \Dis*creet"\, a. [Compar. {Discreeter}; superl.
     {Discreetest}.] [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence
     the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See
     {Discern}, and cf. {Discrete}.]
     1. Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or
        evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent;


        sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the
              learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation,
              and gives measures to society.        --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Satire 's my weapon, but I 'm too discreet
              To run amuck, and tilt at all I meet. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The sea is silent, the sea is discreet.
                                                    --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Differing; distinct. [Obs.] --Spenser. -- {Dis*creet"ly},
        adv. -- {Dis*creet"ness}, n. Discrepance

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  discreet
       adj 1: marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint; "his
              trusted discreet aide"; "a discreet, finely wrought
              gold necklace" [ant: {indiscreet}]
       2: unobtrusively perceptive and sympathetic; "a discerning
          editor"; "a discreet silence" [syn: {discerning}]
       3: heedful of potential consequences; "circumspect actions";
          "physicians are now more circumspect about recommending
          its use"; "a discreet investor" [syn: {circumspect}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  108 Moby Thesaurus words for "discreet":
     Olympian, aloof, backward, bashful, blank, calculating, canny,
     careful, cautious, chary, chilled, chilly, circumspect, close,
     closemouthed, cold, considerate, constrained, controlled, cool,
     dark, deliberate, detached, diplomatic, discriminating,
     discriminative, distant, dry, enlightened, evasive, expressionless,
     forbidding, frigid, frosty, gingerly, guarded, heedful, hesitant,
     icy, impassive, impersonal, inaccessible, introverted, judgmatic,
     judicial, judicious, leaving out nothing, mindful, moderate,
     modest, noncommittal, offish, on guard, overlooking no possibility,
     pawky, politic, provident, prudent, prudential, reasonable,
     reflecting, reflective, regardful, remote, removed, repressed,
     reserved, restrained, reticent, retiring, safe, secret, secretive,
     shifty, shrinking, simple, slow to act, standoff, standoffish,
     subdued, suppressed, tactful, temperate, tentative, thorough,
     thoughtful, unadorned, unadventurous, unaffable, unapproachable,
     uncommunicative, uncongenial, undaring, undemonstrative,
     unelaborate, unenterprising, unexcessive, unexpansive, unextreme,
     ungenial, unostentatious, unprecipitate, unpretentious, wary,
     watchful, well-advised, well-judged, withdrawn