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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Diffident \Dif"fi*dent\, adjective [L. diffidens, -entis, p. pr. of diffidere; dif- = dis + fidere to trust; akin to fides faith. See {Faith}, and cf. {Defy}.]
1. Wanting confidence in others; distrustful. [Archaic]
You were always extremely diffident of their success. --Melmoth.
2. Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve.
The diffident maidens, Folding their hands in prayer. --Longfellow.
Syn: Distrustful; suspicious; hesitating; doubtful; modest; bashful; lowly; reserved.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
diffident
adjective
1: showing modest reserve; "she was diffident when offering a comment on the professor's lecture"
2: lacking self-confidence; "stood in the doorway diffident and abashed"; "problems that call for bold not timid responses"; "a very unsure young man" [syn: {shy}, {timid}, {unsure}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "diffident": bashful, boggling, cautious, cowardly, coy, demure, demurring, deprecative, deprecatory, faltering, fearful, fearing, fearsome, goosy, hesitant, hesitating, in fear, jibbing, jumpy, modest, mousy, nervous, qualmish, rabbity, reluctant, retiring, scary, scrupling, scrupulous, self-deprecating, self-depreciating, self-depreciative, self-distrustful, self-doubting, self-effacing, shaky, shilly-shallying, shivery, shrinking, shy, skittery, skittish, squeamish, startlish, sticking, stickling, straining, tentative, timid, timorous, trembling, tremulous, trepidant, trigger-happy, unassertive, unassured, unselfconfident, unselfreliant
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |