reserved

1. 1
   adjective

   Set aside for a particular person or purpose; already claimed or spoken for.

   The parking spot near the entrance is reserved for staff.

   She discovered that every reserved room had already been assigned to delegates.

   Similarallocated, assigned, dedicated

   Oppositeunreserved, available, free

   Note

   Here there are no degrees: a seat is reserved or it is not, so this sense, unlike the "quiet in manner" meaning, never takes more or most. It usually stands before its noun, as in reserved seats or the special reserved enclosure in Arthur Conan Doyle's When the World Screamed (1929). After be it takes for, as in reserved for staff.

2. 2
   adjective

   Slow to reveal emotions or opinions; quiet and self-restrained in manner.

   The new colleague seemed reserved during meetings, rarely offering an opinion.

   Despite his reserved nature, he opened up once the conversation turned to music.

   Similarquiet, aloof, distant, cool, reticent

   Oppositeoutgoing, open, demonstrative, extroverted

   Note

   The temperament sense, and the one that takes degrees: a person can be more reserved than a sibling, or the most reserved person in the room. It belongs with the noun reserve in its meaning of caution in personal behavior. Its near-synonyms lean colder. Remote and standoffish suggest distance or rebuff, while a reserved nature may simply be quiet and self-contained, warming once the right subject comes up.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of reserve.

   The committee reserved the hall for the annual meeting.

   He had reserved his judgment until all the facts were in.

   Note

   One spelling does the work of both the simple past (they reserved a table) and the participle after have or be (a table has been reserved). The participle shades easily into the "set aside" adjective, since a reserved seat is simply one somebody has reserved. The verb behind it can take two objects, as in reserved us a table, and an older use meaning "to except" has fallen out of the language.

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