diffidence
/ˈdɪfɪdəns/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.83 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Without scruple—without apology—without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, was professing himself her lover."
- "My father was in the meantime overjoyed and in the bustle of preparation only recognized in the melancholy of his niece the diffidence of a bride."
- "I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying than I can."
- ""I was passing by," he began to stammer, trembling with his diffidence, "I—happened to be passing along this way, and so—er—as I was passing this way, I says to myself, says I, 'I'll just stop into the shop a minute.'"
- "And Rick with unwonted diffidence had accepted his exclusion. Now with the same diffidence he came, looking trim and loving and mysteriously humble."
- "[Charles, King of France]: We have been guided by thee hitherto, And of thy cunning had no diffidence: One sudden foil shall never breed distrust."
Etymology
From Latin diffīdentiam (“distrust”), from diffīdere (“to mistrust”), from dis- and fīdere (“to trust”). Attested since ∼1400. The original sense was antonymous with confidence, and the modern sense of ‘distrusting oneself’ dates from the 1650s.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰeydʰ-, diffīdentia