diffident

[ dif-i-duhnt ]
/ ˈdɪf ɪ dənt /
SEE 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.

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM diffident

Words nearby diffident

differentiator, difficile, difficult, difficulty, diffidence, diffident, diffluence, diffluent, difflugia, diffract, diffraction
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to diffidently

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

Example sentences from the Web for diffidently

British Dictionary definitions for diffidently

diffident
/ (ˈdɪfɪdənt) /

adjective

lacking self-confidence; timid; shy

Derived forms of diffident

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