definitions

diffident

[ dif-i-duhnt ]
/ ˈdɪf ɪ dənt /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR diffident ON THESAURUS.COM

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

differentiator, difficile, difficult, difficulty, diffidence, diffident, diffluence, diffluent, difflugia, diffract, diffraction

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 Forms

diffidence, 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