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I am said to be difficult of acquaintance, unwilling to meet any one half way, and showing a social manner which is easy, not diffident, but formal and unresponsive, tending constantly to hold people off.
Albert J. Nock

Meaning of "diffident" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD DIFFIDENT

From Latin diffīdere to distrust, from dis- not + fīdere to trust.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF DIFFIDENT

diffident  [ˈdɪfɪdənt] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DIFFIDENT

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Diffident is an adjective.
The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES DIFFIDENT MEAN IN ENGLISH?

diffident

Shyness

Shyness is the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness especially when a person is in proximity to other people. This commonly occurs in new situations or with unfamiliar people. Shyness can be a characteristic of people who have low self-esteem. Stronger forms of shyness are usually referred to as social anxiety or social phobia. The primary defining characteristic of shyness is a largely ego-driven fear of what other people will think of a person's behavior, which results in the person becoming scared of doing or saying what he or she wants to, out of fear of negative reactions, criticism, rejection, and simply opting to avoid social situations instead. One of the key and most important aspects of shyness is social skills development. Schools and many parents implicitly assume that pupils are fully capable of effective social interaction. Social skills training is not given any priority and as a result, shyness develops in vulnerable pupils.

Definition of diffident in the English dictionary

The definition of diffident in the dictionary is lacking self-confidence; timid; shy.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH DIFFIDENT


accident
ˈæksɪdənt
aidant
ˈeɪdənt
antioxidant
ˌæntɪˈɒksɪdənt
avoidant
əˈvɔɪdənt
coincident
kəʊˈɪnsɪdənt
confident
ˈkɒnfɪdənt
didn´t
ˈdɪdənt
dissident
ˈdɪsɪdənt
evident
ˈɛvɪdənt
incident
ˈɪnsɪdənt
occident
ˈɒksɪdənt
overconfident
ˌəʊvəˈkɒnfɪdənt
oxidant
ˈɒksɪdənt
precedent
ˈprɛsɪdənt
president
ˈprɛzɪdənt
provident
ˈprɒvɪdənt
resident
ˈrɛzɪdənt
self-confident
ˌselfˈkɒnfɪdənt
superconfident
ˌsuːpərˈkɒnfɪdənt
trident
ˈtraɪdənt

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DIFFIDENT

differentiation
differentiator
differently
differentness
difficile
difficult
difficulties
difficultly
difficulty
diffidence
diffidently
diffluent
difform
difformity
diffract
diffraction
diffraction grating
diffraction pattern
diffractive
diffractively

WORDS THAT END LIKE DIFFIDENT

cerebral vascular accident
cerebrovascular accident
class president
co-president
dead president
ex-president
Executive Office of the President
executive president
hit-and-run accident
ident
improvident
independent
life president
nonresident
permanent resident
rident
road accident
road traffic accident
self-evident
shooting incident
vice president

Synonyms and antonyms of diffident in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «DIFFIDENT»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «diffident» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of diffident

Translation of «diffident» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF DIFFIDENT

Find out the translation of diffident to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of diffident from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «diffident» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

羞怯的
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

tímido
570 millions of speakers

English

diffident
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

संकोची
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

تستحي
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

неуверенный в себе
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

tímido
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

আত্মবিশ্বাসহীন
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

qui manque d´assurance
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Cacat
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

zurückhaltend
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

内気な
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

소심한
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Diffident
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

thiếu tự tin
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அதைரியமுள்ள
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

विचित्र
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

çekingen
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

schivo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

niepewny
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

невпевнений у собі
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

timid
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

άτολμος
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

bedeesd
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

diffident
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

diffident
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of diffident

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DIFFIDENT»

The term «diffident» is normally little used and occupies the 123.382 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
42
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «diffident» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of diffident
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «diffident».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DIFFIDENT» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «diffident» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «diffident» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about diffident

EXAMPLES

3 QUOTES WITH «DIFFIDENT»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word diffident.
1
Jesse Harris
In the past, I've been a bit diffident about my own albums, almost excusing them for some reason, even though deep down I felt strongly about them.
2
Albert J. Nock
I am said to be difficult of acquaintance, unwilling to meet any one half way, and showing a social manner which is easy, not diffident, but formal and unresponsive, tending constantly to hold people off.
3
Karl Rove
I hate to sound sort of diffident about it but it strikes me that a lot of people on the right have got active lives and are doing other things.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DIFFIDENT»

Discover the use of diffident in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to diffident and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
A Diffident Doctor
A testament to the persevering American spirit, "A Diffident Doctor" tells of Dr. Hugh L. Moffet's fascinating journey from a small town to Yale Medical School to his studies in infectious diseases, and, eventually, to a practice of ...
Hugh L. Moffet, 2012
2
The Diffident Naturalist: Robert Boyle and the Philosophy of ...
The roots of his philosophy in his early life and education, in his religious ideals, and in the work of his predecessors—particularly Bacon, Descartes, and Galileo—are fully explored, as are the possible influences of his social and ...
Rose-Mary Sargent, 1995
3
The Diffident Movement: Disintegration, Ingenuity and ...
This book, on the one hand, tells the story of the Chilean shantytown organizations during Pinochet's rule.
Ton Salman, 1997
4
All the Year Round
A diffident burglar would never retire upon his savings. He would even run the risk of being driven in the end to earn his living honestly. We may be diffident in well-doing, and that is a pity ; or we may be diffident in evil-doing, and that may ...
Charles Dickens, 1891
5
Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment
of narrow morality. Whenever strong motives are in play, our morality works to channel and coordinate them, not to push against their full weight. Diffident morality coordinates exchange; it coordinates bargaining; it coordinates enforcement.
Allan Gibbard, 1992
6
Living Age ...
A diffident person would never have won for himself favorable notice in De Quincey's "Essay on Murder." If he had begun a murder well, he would have become panic-struck as it proceeded, and huddled it up at the close. A diffident burglar ...
Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell, Making of America Project, 1892
7
The Living Age
A diffident person would never have won for himself favorable notice in De Quincey's "Essay on Murder." If he had begun a murder well, he would have become panic-struck as it proceeded, and huddled it up at the close. A diffident burglar ...
8
The Imperial Encyclopaedic Dictionary: A New and Exhaustive ...
South: Sermons, vol. v., ser. 2. dir-fl-den$e, Mlf-fl-den-ey, 8. [Lat. diffident ia, from diffidens, pr. par. of diJ?ldo=to distrust : di/=dt*=apart, away, and fides=taith, confidence; Ital. diffidenzia; Sp. dijidencia.] *l. Distrust ; want of faith or confidence in ...
Robert Hunter, 1901
9
The Anglo-American Encyclopedia and Dictionary: Dictionary ...
Bacon : Of the Interpretation of Nature, ch. xix. 3. Distrust of one's self, or of one's powers ; bash- fulness, reserve. It is good to speak on such questions with diffidence.1 it. Eng Hist. Eng., ch. ill. dlf-f I-dent, a. [Lat. diffident, pr. par. of dif- fido; Sp.
10
The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary: An Exhaustive ...
[hat. diffi- dentia, from diffident, pr. par. of diffido— to distrust: dt/=dts=apart, away, and rtde8=faith, confidence ; Ital. diffidenzia; Sp. difidencia.~] *1 . Distrust ; want of faith or confidence in others ; suspicion. " Thou dost shame thy mother, And ...
Edward Thomas Roe, Le Roy Hooker, Thomas W. Handford, 1907

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DIFFIDENT»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term diffident is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Ashes 2015, England v Australia, first Test - Joe Root scores superb …
... Cup in Starc's case to the diffident quick of the Oval in 2013, but if England see them off someone's going to have to do Harris's donkey work. «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»
2
Ashes 2015, England v Australia, first Test - live: Adam Lyth out early …
... Cup in Starc's case to the diffident quick of the Oval in 2013, but if England see them off someone's going to have to do Harris's donkey work. «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»
3
Asif Kapadia, Amy (2015) | David McAlmont - Huffington Post UK
It sets up the third act in which the diffident diva unravels as her peers and the media flay her. People close to her come to blows. We hear the ... «Huffington Post UK, Jul 15»
4
Mixed Feelings About The Business Of Mining — And Manipulating …
Diffident, ostracized, disliked by all, Uncertainty is the one emotion that no advertiser wants to cast TWEET . Too bad. She's got stamina and a ... «WBUR, Jul 15»
5
Volkswagen Phaeton: Guilty Pleasures | PistonHeads
Reserved, diffident and subtle is just fine actually, which is why the VW Phaeton appeals so much. Well it's one of many reasons actually, but ... «Pistonheads.com, Jul 15»
6
This fun production of Ayckbourn play definitely had a chorus of …
But the arrival of a diffident newcomer and widower Guy Jones (David Reed) sets up a new dynamic within the group when the play's earnest ... «The Cornishman, Jul 15»
7
Irish aviation firm Acumen teams up with India's Air Works | Business …
The turbulence in the aviation sector has had all major aircraft leasing companies and financers becoming diffident about placing their pricey ... «Hindu Business Line, Jul 15»
8
The prairie Prime Minister and his renegade biographer
He had been impressed by Walter Gordon, the diffident but passionate nationalist from the old Canadian establishment who was Pearson's first ... «The Prince Arthur Herald, Jul 15»
9
Inside Write - Don't cry for Messi, cry for Argentina
As an incredibly shy, diffident soul, he is never going to be a rabble-rousing leader or have the presence that Maradona had to intimidate, ... «The Sun Daily, Jul 15»
10
Caldwell's honorary historian: Chuck Randolph
Despite his obvious passion for local lore, Randolph is diffident about being called the city's honorary historian. “There's no one book or one ... «Idaho Press-Tribune, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Diffident [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/diffident>. Apr 2024 ».
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