diff --git a/docs/client_reference.rst b/docs/client_reference.rst
index 4378540d130..770f157f80a 100644
--- a/docs/client_reference.rst
+++ b/docs/client_reference.rst
@@ -1545,7 +1545,7 @@ ClientTimeout
 
    .. attribute:: total
 
-      Total timeout for the whole request.
+      Total number of seconds for the whole request.
 
       :class:`float`, ``None`` by default.