discretion
- 1Carefulness about what one reveals, so as to keep private matters private and avoid causing embarrassment.
Like a doctor who never repeats what a patient says in private.
The assistant managed the senator's schedule with quiet discretion.
Reporters praised her for the discretion she showed in protecting her sources.
Similartact, confidentiality, circumspection, diplomacy, prudence
Oppositeindiscretion, tactlessness, imprudence, carelessness
Note
Built from discreet plus the noun-making -ion, the word came by way of Middle English discrecioun, Old French discretion and Late Latin discrētiō, back to Latin discerno. It usually goes with show, as in showing great discretion about an affair one knows of. It praises keeping quiet rather than judging well, and that sets it apart from the 'wise choices' meaning.
- 2The freedom to use one's own judgment in deciding how to act.
Volunteers were given wide discretion in how they spent the donated funds.
Within these guidelines, you have complete discretion to organize the work.
Similarlatitude, freedom, leeway, liberty, license
Oppositeconstraint, restriction, compulsion
Note
Here the word hands a choice to someone else. Its typical construction is leave something to someone's discretion, as in "I leave that to your discretion," a courteous way of saying the decision is theirs. Words like wide or complete measure how much freedom is given. Nothing binding comes with it. That weight belongs to the official authority to decide.
- 3The authority to use one's own judgment when making decisions that carry real, binding effect.
The committee acted within its discretion when it rejected the proposal.
Funding decisions for the program are left to the director's discretion.
Similarauthority, prerogative, power, remit, jurisdiction
Note
In law and administration, this is the latitude an official or body holds to choose among lawful courses of action, and the choice carries binding effect rather than advisory weight. Two constructions mark it. People act at their discretion, as police do when they search people at their discretion. A body acts within its discretion, a phrasing that frames the authority as having limits.
- 4The ability to make wise choices or sound decisions, especially in difficult situations.
Years of practice gave the surgeon the discretion to know which risks were worth taking.
Investors valued his discretion in steering the fund away from doomed ventures.
Similarjudgment, wisdom, prudence, discernment, sense
Oppositeimprudence, foolishness, folly, recklessness
Note
A legal phrase keeps this sense alive: the years of discretion, the age at which a person is held able to choose wisely for themselves. Thomas Edlyne Tomlins's A Popular Law-Dictionary (1838) puts it at fourteen for a woman, old enough to choose her own guardian. Outside that phrase the sense is about judgment, not secrecy: someone with this kind of discretion decides well rather than keeps quiet.
Practice
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Origin
The word came through Middle English discrecioun and Old French discretion from Late Latin discrētiō, which goes back to Latin discerno. It is equivalent to discreet plus the suffix -ion.