Meanings
nounman of few words (plural men of few words)
plural men of few words
- idiomaticA man who doesn't speak much; a habitually terse or taciturn man.
Tarzan but nodded his head. He was a man of few words, and possibly it was for this reason as much as any that Kadour ben Saden had taken to him, for if there be one thing that an Arab despises it is a talkative man.
1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Fight in the Desert”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 106
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 沈默寡言的男人, 沉默寡言的男人
- 沈默寡言的男人man who doesn't speak much
- 沉默寡言的男人 (chénmòguǎyán de nánrén)man who doesn't speak much
Dutch geen man van veel woorden
- geen man van veel woordenman who doesn't speak much
Finnish vaitelias mies
- vaitelias miesman who doesn't speak much
French homme de peu de mots
- homme de peu de motsman who doesn't speak much
German Schweiger
- Schweigerman who doesn't speak much
Hebrew לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים
- לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים (lo ish dvarím)man who doesn't speak much
Icelandic fámáll maður
- fámáll maðurman who doesn't speak much
Irish duine/fear tostach
- duine/fear tostachman who doesn't speak much
Italian uomo di poche parole
- uomo di poche paroleman who doesn't speak much
Portuguese homem de poucas palavras
- homem de poucas palavrasman who doesn't speak much
Spanish hombre de pocas palabras, hombre parco en palabras
- hombre de pocas palabrasman who doesn't speak much
- hombre parco en palabrasman who doesn't speak much
Cite this entry
APA
man of few words. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20of%20few%20words
MLA
“man of few words.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20of%20few%20words. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “man of few words,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20of%20few%20words.
Source: man of few words on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.