Dictionary

noncommittal en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌnɒnkəˈmɪtl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌnɑnkəˈmɪtl̩/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From non- + committal.

Meanings

1. Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion.
   • A United Nations spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, has previously said the organization would not divulge its sources of information, but welcomed any additional information from the coalition. The United Nations has been noncommittal on the Saudi proposal to send its experts to Riyadh. 2016 June 22, Somini Sengupta, “Saudis Question U.N. Leader Over Report on Rights Violators”, in The New York Times:
   • The Major's face was noncommittal.
   • [He] is candid, open-hearted, and hardly non-commmittal enough for his own interest at times. 1818, S.R. Wells, The American Phrenonological Journal, and other miscellany, volume 10, page 234:
   • The noncommittal Indians would give no counsel as to fording.

Forms

Deriveds

noncommittally · noncommittalism · noncommittalness

Relateds

reticent · uncommittal

Translations (25)

es sin compromiso (tending to avoid commitment) · hu elköteleződés nélküli (tending to avoid commitment) · hu semmire sem kötelező (tending to avoid commitment) · es poco comprometedor (tending to avoid commitment) · oc evasiu (tending to avoid commitment) · oc reservat (tending to avoid commitment) · tr belirsiz (tending to avoid commitment) · hu óvatos (tending to avoid commitment) · mi whēangaanga (tending to avoid commitment) · hu állást nem foglaló (tending to avoid commitment) · hu diplomatikus (tending to avoid commitment) · es no comprometedor (tending to avoid commitment) · pl niezdecydowany (tending to avoid commitment) · ja どっちつかずの (tending to avoid commitment) · pl wymijający (tending to avoid commitment) · tr müphem (tending to avoid commitment) · de unverbindlich (tending to avoid commitment) · hu tartózkodó (tending to avoid commitment) · bg уклончив (tending to avoid commitment) · nb uforpliktende (tending to avoid commitment) · nb reservert (tending to avoid commitment) · hu semleges (tending to avoid commitment) · gl evasivo (tending to avoid commitment) · fr évasif (tending to avoid commitment) · pt sem compromisso (tending to avoid commitment)

noncommittal en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌnɒnkəˈmɪtl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌnɑnkəˈmɪtl̩/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From non- + committal.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Failure to commit to a decision or course of action.
   • As a result of cowardly noncommittals during the immediate postelection period, there was so much strain on several black-white Democratic relationships that they approached open ruptures. 1997, Dennis Sven Nordin, The New Deal's Black Congressman, page 42:
2. (countable, uncountable) A voter etc. who has not yet committed to a decision.
   • Where they occur, in the Liberal increases in Quebec and Ontario for instance, they are offset by declines in the number of undecideds or noncommittals. 1981, Howard Rae Penniman, Canada at the Polls, 1979 and 1980, page 372:

Forms