confidence

[ kon-fi-duhns ]
See synonyms for: confidenceconfidences on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing: We have every confidence in their ability to succeed.

  2. belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance: His lack of confidence defeated him.

  1. certitude; assurance: He described the situation with such confidence that the audience believed him completely.

  2. a secret that is confided or imparted trustfully: The friends exchanged many confidences over the years.

  3. See entry at vote of confidence.

  4. presumption; impudence: Her disdainful look crushed the confidence of the brash young man.

  5. Archaic. something that gives confidence; ground of trust.

Idioms about confidence

  1. in confidence, as a secret or private matter, not to be divulged or communicated to others; with belief in a person's sense of discretion: I told him in confidence.

Origin of confidence

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin confīdentia; see confide, -ence

synonym study For confidence

1. See trust. 2. Confidence, assurance both imply a faith in oneself. Confidence may imply trust in oneself or arrogant self-conceit. Assurance implies even more sureness of oneself; this may be shown as undisturbed calm or as offensive boastfulness.

Other words for confidence

Opposites for confidence

Other words from confidence

  • hy·per·con·fi·dence, noun
  • non·con·fi·dence, noun
  • su·per·con·fi·dence, noun

Words Nearby confidence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use confidence in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for confidence

confidence

/ (ˈkɒnfɪdəns) /


noun
  1. a feeling of trust in a person or thing: I have confidence in his abilities

  2. belief in one's own abilities; self-assurance

  1. trust or a trustful relationship: take me into your confidence

  2. something confided or entrusted; secret

  3. in confidence as a secret

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with confidence

confidence

In addition to the idiom beginning with confidence

  • confidence game

also see:

  • in confidence
  • take into one's confidence

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.