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diffident

[ dif-i-duhnt ]
/ ˈdɪf ɪ dənt /
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adjective

lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy.
restrained or reserved in manner, conduct, etc.
Archaic. distrustful.

RELATED WORDS

nervously, timidly, quietly, simply, plainly, humbly, apprehensively, shyly, purely, chastely, demurely, unassumingly, unobtrusively, virtuously

Nearby words

  1. differently,
  2. difficile,
  3. difficult,
  4. difficulty,
  5. diffidence,
  6. diffidently,
  7. diffluence,
  8. diffluent,
  9. difflugia,
  10. diffract

Origin of diffident

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin diffīdent- (stem of diffīdēns mistrusting, despairing, present participle of diffīdere), equivalent to dif- dif- + fīd- trust + -ent- -ent
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for diffidently

British Dictionary definitions for diffidently

diffident

/ (ˈdɪfɪdənt) /

adjective

lacking self-confidence; timid; shy
Derived Formsdiffidence, noundiffidently, adverb

Word Origin for diffident

C15: from Latin diffīdere to distrust, from dis- not + fīdere to trust
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