Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

keep one's own counsel

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.94 in modern English

Syllables: keep- one's own -coun-sel
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

18

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: keep one's cards close to one's chest, keep it in the family, keep one's mouth shut; see also Thesaurus:be quiet"
"Who wills, may keep his own counsel—be his own secret's sovereign."
"She kept her own counsel however, planning to escape at the first opportunity when she might have a sufficient start of her captor, as she now considered him, to give her some assurance of outdistancing him."
"The compressed lips suggest his principled reticence, his practice of keeping his own counsel."

Inflected Forms

keeps one's own counsel (present, singular) keeping one's own counsel (participle, present) kept one's own counsel (participle, past) kept one's own counsel (past)

Synonyms

keep counsel keep one's counsel keep one's cards close to one's chest keep it in the family keep one's mouth shut

Questions

What does keep one's own counsel mean?: To keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.

How to pronounce keep one's own counsel

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