Learn English – A word for someone who intentionally makes vague negative comments and then refuses to explain them

single-word-requests

How would you describe someone who intentionally makes vague negative comments and then refuses to explain them?

For the purpose of getting others to ask them about the comment and being able to withhold that information.

For the purpose of making other people want to know what they are thinking.

I'm looking for a word that describes either the person or the behavior.

here is an example of a conversation:

Alice: I shouldn't have told her that story about hitting those cars.

Mary: She probably wasn't listening.

Alice: Well, if the whole story was told she would. She would probably tell you to never talk to me again.

Mary: There's more?

Alice: Yes, what happened was not good.

Mary: Which was?

Alice: Not telling.

Here, Alice is not talking about a crime or something incriminating they are just withholding for the sake of withholding.

Best Answer

A tease.

  1. a person who likes to play tricks and jokes on other people, especially by telling them something that is not true or by not telling them something that they want to know (Oxford ALD)

Beware of sense 3, though.

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