What does discretion mean?
Definitions for discretion
dɪˈskrɛʃ əndis·cre·tion
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word discretion.
Princeton's WordNet
discretionnoun
freedom to act or judge on one's own
discretion, discreetness, circumspection, prudencenoun
knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
"the servants showed great tact and discretion"
delicacy, discretionnoun
refined taste; tact
free will, discretionnoun
the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies
discretion, discernmentnoun
the trait of judging wisely and objectively
"a man of discernment"
Wiktionary
discretionnoun
The quality of being discreet or circumspect
Bob showed great discretion despite his knowledge of the affair.
discretionnoun
The ability to make wise choices or decisions
discretionnoun
The freedom to make one's own judgements
I leave that to your discretion.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Discretionnoun
Etymology: from discretio, Latin.
Nothing then was further thought upon for the manner of governing; but all permitted unto their wisdom and discretion which were to rule. Richard Hooker, b. i. s. 10.
A knife may be taken away from a child, without depriving them of the benefits thereof, which have years and discretion to use it. Richard Hooker, b. iv. s. 12.
It is not good that children should know any wickedness: old folks, you know, have discretion, as they say, and know the world. William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.
All this was order’d by the good discretion
Of the right reverend cardinal of York. William Shakespeare, Hen. VIII.The pleasure of commanding our passions is to be preferred before any sensual pleasure; because it is the pleasure of wisdom and discretion. John Tillotson.
But care in poetry must still be had,
It asks discretion, ev’n in running mad. Alexander Pope, Ess. on Crit.There is no talent so useful towards rising in the world, or which puts men more out of the reach of fortune than discretion, a species of lower prudence. Jonathan Swift.
Wikipedia
Discretion
Discretion has the meaning of acting on one's own authority and judgment. In law, discretion as to legal rulings, such as whether evidence is excluded at a trial, may be exercised by a judge. Some view discretion negatively, while some view it positively. Discretion exists at all levels of law enforcement and in many types of front-line bureaucrats. Discretion has been called "the Art of suiting the action to particular circumstances" (Lord Scarman). Those in a position of power are most often able to exercise discretion as to how they will apply or exercise that power. The ability to make decisions which represent a responsible choice and for which an understanding of what is lawful, right or wise may be presupposed.
ChatGPT
discretion
Discretion is the ability to make sound judgments or decisions based on careful consideration of various factors, while keeping certain information, actions, or opinions confidential or private as deemed appropriate. It involves exercising caution and prudence to take appropriate actions or refrain from revealing certain things in order to respect privacy, maintain confidentiality, avoid causing harm, or maintain professional integrity.
Webster Dictionary
Discretionnoun
disjunction; separation
Discretionnoun
the quality of being discreet; wise conduct and management; cautious discernment, especially as to matters of propriety and self-control; prudence; circumspection; wariness
Discretionnoun
discrimination
Discretionnoun
freedom to act according to one's own judgment; unrestrained exercise of choice or will
Etymology: [F. discrtion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern.]
Wikidata
Discretion
Discretion is a noun in the English language with several meanings revolving around the judgment of the person exercising the characteristic.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Discretion
dis-kresh′un, n. quality of being discreet: prudence: liberty to act at pleasure.—adjs. Discre′tional, Discre′tionary, left to discretion: unrestricted,—advs. Discre′tionally, Discre′tionarily.—Age, Years, of discretion, mature years; At discretion, according to one's own judgment; Be at one's discretion, to be completely under another person's power or control; Surrender at discretion, to surrender unconditionally, that is, to another's discretion. [Through Fr. from L. discretion-em, discernĕre, -crētum.]
The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
DISCRETION
An instinctive perception that enables us to say, "Oh, shut up!" to the small, weak man, and "I beg your pardon, but I do not entirely agree with your views," to the large, strong one.
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
discretion
To surrender at discretion, implies an unconditional yielding to the mercy of the conquerors.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
discretion
Se rendre à discrétion, surrendering unconditionally to a victorious enemy.
Editors Contribution
discretionverb
Instructing to contain order with expressing inversions to the creditor in a conditioned response ahead of time with ionic matter. 1.) the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information. 2.) the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation.
The Most High showed discretion to his people by giving them the words of Jesus Christ.
Etymology: Forgiveness
Submitted by Tehorah_Elyon on April 5, 2024
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'discretion' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4648
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'discretion' in Nouns Frequency: #1912
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1515","1"],["1524","1"],["1563","7"],["1572","2"],["1575","3"],["1579","12"],["1581","59"],["1582","25"],["1584","1"],["1587","4"],["1590","2"],["1592","4"],["1598","2"],["1600","5"],["1607","6"],["1612","1"],["1619","12"],["1620","8"],["1621","3"],["1624","8"],["1625","1"],["1629","16"],["1630","7"],["1631","2"],["1635","13"],["1637","24"],["1638","3"],["1641","1"],["1643","4"],["1644","24"],["1645","2"],["1647","1"],["1648","13"],["1649","6"],["1650","3"],["1651","32"],["1652","3"],["1653","14"],["1654","2"],["1655","8"],["1656","20"],["1657","10"],["1658","14"],["1659","32"],["1660","7"],["1661","1"],["1662","11"],["1664","1"],["1665","6"],["1666","3"],["1667","24"],["1668","25"],["1669","6"],["1670","30"],["1671","2"],["1672","1"],["1673","35"],["1674","1"],["1675","18"],["1676","56"],["1677","11"],["1678","71"],["1679","22"],["1680","60"],["1681","57"],["1682","88"],["1683","82"],["1684","26"],["1685","62"],["1686","21"],["1687","9"],["1688","16"],["1689","22"],["1690","4"],["1691","2"],["1692","28"],["1693","5"],["1694","44"],["1695","8"],["1696","1"],["1697","4"],["1698","25"],["1699","16"],["1700","65"],["1701","19"],["1702","17"],["1703","42"],["1704","35"],["1705","52"],["1706","28"],["1707","22"],["1708","17"],["1709","10"],["1710","8"],["1711","14"],["1712","24"],["1713","12"],["1714","12"],["1715","5"],["1716","84"],["1717","43"],["1718","14"],["1719","30"],["1720","86"],["1721","40"],["1722","32"],["1723","105"],["1724","67"],["1725","18"],["1726","37"],["1727","89"],["1728","116"],["1729","42"],["1730","69"],["1731","31"],["1732","66"],["1733","29"],["1734","53"],["1735","103"],["1736","34"],["1737","175"],["1738","99"],["1739","77"],["1740","135"],["1741","34"],["1742","89"],["1743","46"],["1744","125"],["1745","66"],["1746","45"],["1747","189"],["1748","118"],["1749","69"],["1750","157"],["1751","194"],["1752","167"],["1753","236"],["1754","419"],["1755","359"],["1756","137"],["1757","133"],["1758","290"],["1759","291"],["1760","237"],["1761","396"],["1762","138"],["1763","417"],["1764","350"],["1765","342"],["1766","567"],["1767","303"],["1768","644"],["1769","458"],["1770","429"],["1771","392"],["1772","317"],["1773","417"],["1774","438"],["1775","664"],["1776","358"],["1777","496"],["1778","441"],["1779","313"],["1780","335"],["1781","402"],["1782","360"],["1783","511"],["1784","567"],["1785","392"],["1786","536"],["1787","841"],["1788","891"],["1789","747"],["1790","697"],["1791","918"],["1792","1268"],["1793","896"],["1794","873"],["1795","1153"],["1796","1156"],["1797","1067"],["1798","862"],["1799","839"],["1800","1421"],["1801","1958"],["1802","2060"],["1803","1976"],["1804","2368"],["1805","2747"],["1806","2686"],["1807","2842"],["1808","2847"],["1809","2992"],["1810","3188"],["1811","3734"],["1812","3701"],["1813","3177"],["1814","3310"],["1815","2762"],["1816","3405"],["1817","3543"],["1818","5329"],["1819","3700"],["1820","5160"],["1821","4017"],["1822","5672"],["1823","5720"],["1824","6251"],["1825","6010"],["1826","6076"],["1827","5762"],["1828","5883"],["1829","6438"],["1830","6975"],["1831","6326"],["1832","6925"],["1833","6988"],["1834","6579"],["1835","7424"],["1836","8198"],["1837","6987"],["1838","6547"],["1839","9151"],["1840","9333"],["1841","7525"],["1842","6948"],["1843","8621"],["1844","8485"],["1845","9019"],["1846","9798"],["1847","8243"],["1848","9138"],["1849","8429"],["1850","8533"],["1851","10781"],["1852","10738"],["1853","13480"],["1854","12346"],["1855","11040"],["1856","12927"],["1857","10620"],["1858","11575"],["1859","11310"],["1860","9898"],["1861","9261"],["1862","7939"],["1863","8173"],["1864","9256"],["1865","8962"],["1866","9810"],["1867","9828"],["1868","9386"],["1869","9985"],["1870","9548"],["1871","8673"],["1872","9380"],["1873","10778"],["1874","10981"],["1875","11154"],["1876","11256"],["1877","12218"],["1878","9625"],["1879","12024"],["1880","14077"],["1881","12152"],["1882","11572"],["1883","15026"],["1884","16949"],["1885","13789"],["1886","12785"],["1887","13857"],["1888","13530"],["1889","13781"],["1890","12822"],["1891","13422"],["1892","14739"],["1893","14650"],["1894","13616"],["1895","17458"],["1896","16249"],["1897","15019"],["1898","16945"],["1899","17938"],["1900","20607"],["1901","21702"],["1902","19448"],["1903","20730"],["1904","24396"],["1905","21247"],["1906","19307"],["1907","21733"],["1908","22443"],["1909","20052"],["1910","19951"],["1911","19442"],["1912","20126"],["1913","18926"],["1914","20863"],["1915","17551"],["1916","16129"],["1917","16556"],["1918","13521"],["1919","15148"],["1920","20551"],["1921","17938"],["1922","24374"],["1923","15175"],["1924","13946"],["1925","16647"],["1926","15190"],["1927","17285"],["1928","18870"],["1929","15130"],["1930","17955"],["1931","15359"],["1932","15872"],["1933","13107"],["1934","14737"],["1935","17844"],["1936","18256"],["1937","18124"],["1938","18566"],["1939","18513"],["1940","19055"],["1941","16503"],["1942","13155"],["1943","8950"],["1944","8689"],["1945","11827"],["1946","16308"],["1947","17896"],["1948","22007"],["1949","20380"],["1950","24561"],["1951","32032"],["1952","23814"],["1953","20437"],["1954","23116"],["1955","22926"],["1956","25287"],["1957","26009"],["1958","28425"],["1959","28476"],["1960","31942"],["1961","35741"],["1962","34849"],["1963","37799"],["1964","35665"],["1965","40344"],["1966","46596"],["1967","51050"],["1968","51924"],["1969","50201"],["1970","53117"],["1971","48540"],["1972","52072"],["1973","52835"],["1974","50415"],["1975","53072"],["1976","53441"],["1977","57199"],["1978","57406"],["1979","56343"],["1980","57342"],["1981","53349"],["1982","59224"],["1983","60528"],["1984","69995"],["1985","68312"],["1986","72636"],["1987","77532"],["1988","73399"],["1989","78052"],["1990","86028"],["1991","83534"],["1992","91019"],["1993","88301"],["1994","97026"],["1995","101325"],["1996","108100"],["1997","108487"],["1998","122585"],["1999","128633"],["2000","132624"],["2001","140128"],["2002","146269"],["2003","155683"],["2004","157798"],["2005","154908"],["2006","169628"],["2007","180443"],["2008","229674"]]
Anagrams for discretion »
directions
soricident
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of discretion in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of discretion in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of discretion in a Sentence
Imposing more agency discretion on its awards only suggests to whistleblowers that the SEC plans to make restrictive an already complicated and risky process.
The decision comes at an important time – as the Senate considers legislation that undermines the Second Amendment freedom. This decision unequivocally validates the position of the NRA and should put lawmakers on notice: no law should be passed that impinges this individual freedom, it also confronts a troubling problem with the Senate legislation – underscoring that these freedoms should not be left to ‘unguided’ discretion of state officials. Second Amendment freedoms belong to the people.
The judges should have discretion to weigh dangerousness. It's about the victim, but even if you were having a conversation with the strongest advocate of cashless bail, I would challenge them on this point : I would argue that they're doing a disservice to the person who attacked us on stage last night because they rush -- they have to, by law -- they have to rush to get him released.
The actions of Judge Sinnott are unprecedented and outrageous, judge Sinnott insistence on arraigning individuals when my office has used its discretion to decline a case is an unconstitutional abuse of Judge Sinnott power and serves neither the interests of justice nor public safety.
I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for discretion
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حرية التصرفArabic
- преценка, благоразумие, усмотрение, дискретностBulgarian
- možnost uvážení, soudnost, ohleduplnost, diskrétnost, uvážlivost, možnost se rozhodnoutCzech
- pwyllWelsh
- DiskretionGerman
- اختیارPersian
- hienotunteisuus, tahdikkuus, harkintakyky, hienovaraisuus, tilannetaju, oma harkintaFinnish
- discrétionFrench
- विवेकHindi
- riservatezza, discrezione, discernimentoItalian
- 신중Korean
- discretieDutch
- diskresjonNorwegian
- dyskrecjaPolish
- discriçãoPortuguese
- maturitate, libertate de decizie, rezervă, discrețieRomanian
- [[свобода]] [[действие, прозорливость, усмотрение, осмотрительностьRussian
- omdöme, diskretionSwedish
- சுயேச்சையானTamil
- విచక్షణతోTelugu
- صوابدیدUrdu
- sự cẩn trọngVietnamese
- 慎重Chinese
Get even more translations for discretion »
Translation
Find a translation for the discretion definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"discretion." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/discretion>.
Discuss these discretion definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In