self-confidence

[ self-kon-fi-duhns, self- ]
See synonyms for self-confidence on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. realistic confidence in one's own judgment, ability, power, etc.

  2. excessive or inflated confidence in one's own judgment, ability, etc.

Origin of self-confidence

1
First recorded in 1630–40
  • Also self-as·sur·ance [self-uh-shoor-uhns, self-] /ˈsɛlf əˈʃʊər əns, ˌsɛlf-/ .

Other words for self-confidence

Other words from self-confidence

  • self-con·fi·dent, adjective
  • self-con·fi·dent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use self-confidence in a sentence

  • Daphne was still erect, self-confident, militant; whereas Madeleine knew herself vanquished—vanquished both in body and soul.

    Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • The Secret Service man was very self-confident and very convincing.

    Tom Slade with the Colors | Percy K. Fitzhugh
  • What desperate purpose lurked behind his self-confident mask?

    Through the Wall | Cleveland Moffett
  • I have been,' said James Dutton to me at the last interview I had with him, 'all my life an overweening self-confident fool.

  • Thereupon, by way of showing what an adept I was in the art of baby tossing, I shot him upward with self-confident impetus.

British Dictionary definitions for self-confidence

self-confidence

noun
  1. confidence in one's own powers, judgment, etc

Derived forms of self-confidence

  • self-confident, adjective
  • self-confidently, adverb

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