Diffidence

//ˈdɪfɪdəns// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement. countable, uncountable

    "Without scruple—without apology—without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, was professing himself her lover."

  2. 2
    lack of self-confidence wordnet
  3. 3
    Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "[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."

Synonyms

All synonyms
afraidnessapprehensionbashfulnessbogglebogglingcaution

Example

More examples

"With great diffidence I venture to point out what I conceive to be reasons for failure, and also to offer some suggestions that, if adopted, will, I believe, greatly minimise, if not remove, certain evils."

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.

Related phrases

self effacement

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.