All 4 Uses of
discreet
in
The Great Gatsby
- So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York — or not quite together, for Mrs. Wilson sat discreetly in another car.
p. 26..9 *discreetly = in a manner that is unlikely to attract attention or cause embarrassmenteditor's notes: Since Myrtle Wilson is Tom's girl and since each is married to someone else, they do not want to be too obvious by traveling in the same car.
- When I came back they had disappeared, so I sat down discreetly in the living-room and read a chapter of "Simon Called Peter."
p. 29..9discreetly = in a manner that is unlikely to attract attention
- "When they do get married," continued Catherine, "they're going West to live for a while until it blows over."
"It'd be more discreet to go to Europe."
p. 34..1discreet = inconspicuous (not attracting attention)
- "She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked.
p. 120..5indiscreet = attention-attractingstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscreet means not and reverses the meaning of discreet. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
Definition:
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(discreet as in: discreet--not showy or gossipy) trustworthy with secrets or subtle (not attracting attention)editor's notes: This sense of discreet sometimes indicates that something is small (so as not to attract attention) as in "discreet earrings."