self-distrust

[self-dis-truhst, self-]

noun

1. lack of confidence in oneself, in one's abilities, etc.

Other Word Forms

• self-distrustful adjective
• self-distrusting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-distrust¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

As Walsh points out, Debussy’s self-distrust considerably slowed his productivity, as he tested “every chord and chord sequence, every rhythm, every colour for their precise effect.”

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Shy he would always be, but in place of his boyish self-distrust had come a quiet confidence in his own powers.

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This spirit nourishes in him a wholesome self-distrust, and watchfulness over his temper and motives.—The meek man thinks as little of his personal claims, as the humble man of his personal merits.

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The act has been characterised as the culmination of a certain tendency in English constitutional development; as the expression of self-distrust on the part of the monarch; and much more.

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By-and-by my absurd self-distrust passed away, and I began to feel once more equal to the occasion.

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