Diffident

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diffident \Dif"fi*dent\, a. [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]
        [1913 Webster]
  


              You were always extremely diffident of their
              success.                              --Melmoth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own
        powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful;
        characterized by modest reserve.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The diffident maidens,
              Folding their hands in prayer.        --Longfellow.
  
     Syn: Distrustful; suspicious; hesitating; doubtful; modest;
          bashful; lowly; reserved.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  diffident
       adj 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