Reluctant vs. reticent

The latest Language Corner from CJR lays down the difference between reluctant and the oft-misused reticent.

Reluctance you know. But reticence? They're not synonyms.

Reticence is a reluctance to speak, similar to silence and, the article says, "is commonly followed by a word or phrase meaning "concerning": His reticence about the accounts made the investigators suspicious."

Like "silence" or "reserve," "reticence" is uncomfortable with an infinitive; "reticence to sign," or "to" do anything, will offend every time. "Reluctance" and "reluctant," though, work nicely with infinitives, as for example in "reluctance to sign further contracts."