self-doubt

[self-dout]

noun

1. lack of confidence in the reliability of one's own motives, personality, thought, etc.

self-doubt

noun

1. the act or state of doubting oneself

Other Word Forms

• self-doubting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-doubt¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

He was a genius who said many stupid things; an arrogant man who was nonetheless full of self-doubt; a savage critic of others and an even harsher one of himself.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Because the panic, the self-doubt, the impostor syndrome, all those things we don’t talk about — it happens on every movie.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Along with fear, doping promotes self-doubt, teaching athletes to question what they can achieve naturally.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet, speaking exclusively to BBC Sport in his first external interview before United's Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Lammens did not give the impression of someone affected by self-doubt.

Read more on BBC

She and I were so similar that whatever self-doubt or self-hate she had, she seemed to put it on me.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• uncertainty