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DISCRETION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The trait of judging wisely and objectively
Example:
a man of discernment
Synonyms:
discernment; discretion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("discretion" is a kind of...):
wisdom; wiseness (the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "discretion"):
caution; circumspection (the trait of being circumspect and prudent)
prudence (discretion in practical affairs)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies
Synonyms:
discretion; free will
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("discretion" is a kind of...):
power; powerfulness (possession of controlling influence)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "discretion"):
self-determination (determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion)
Derivation:
discretionary (having or using the ability to act or decide according to your own discretion or judgment)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
Example:
the servants showed great tact and discretion
Synonyms:
circumspection; discreetness; discretion; prudence
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("discretion" is a kind of...):
discernment; judgement; judgment; sagaciousness; sagacity (the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "discretion"):
confidentiality (discretion in keeping secret information)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Refined taste; tact
Synonyms:
delicacy; discretion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("discretion" is a kind of...):
appreciation; discernment; perceptiveness; taste (delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values))
Sense 5
Meaning:
Freedom to act or judge on one's own
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("discretion" is a kind of...):
liberty (freedom of choice)
Derivation:
discretionary (having or using the ability to act or decide according to your own discretion or judgment)
Context examples:
I do not know when I shall have done scolding you, and had discretion enough to reserve the rest till they might be secure of having four walls to themselves.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
The confidence he had thought fit to repose in me seemed a tribute to my discretion: I regarded and accepted it as such.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
What arises from discretion must be honoured.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
But, my dear Marianne, as it has already exposed you to some very impertinent remarks, do you not now begin to doubt the discretion of your own conduct?
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice.
(Arbitrary, NCI Thesaurus)
Mr. and Mrs. Morland, relying on the discretion of the friends to whom they had already entrusted their daughter, felt no doubt of the propriety of an acquaintance which had been formed under their eye, and sent therefore by return of post their ready consent to her visit in Gloucestershire.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Mr and Mrs Musgrove, either from seeing little, or from an entire confidence in the discretion of both their daughters, and of all the young men who came near them, seemed to leave everything to take its chance.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
“Really,” interrupted Mrs. Markleham, “if I have any discretion at all—”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I leave the matter to your discretion.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a realistic effect,” remarked Holmes.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
