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diffidence - 4 dictionary results
dif⋅fi⋅dence
[dif-i-duh
ns] 
–noun
| the quality or state of being diffident. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To diffidence
| dif·fi·dence (dĭf'ĭ-dəns, -děns') n. The quality or state of being diffident; timidity or shyness. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Diffidence
Dif"fi*dence\, n. [L. diffidentia.]1. The state of being diffident; distrust; want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others. [Archaic] That affliction grew heavy upon me, and weighed me down even to a diffidence of God's mercy. --Donne. 2. Distrust of one's self or one's own powers; lack of self-reliance; modesty; modest reserve; bashfulness. It is good to speak on such questions with diffidence. --Macaulay. An Englishman's habitual diffidence and awkwardness of address. --W. Irving. Syn: Humility; bashfulness; distrust; suspicion; doubt; fear; timidity; apprehension; hesitation. See Humility, and Bashfulness.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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diffidence
1526, from L. diffidentia "want of confidence," from diffidere "to mistrust, lack confidence," from dis- "away" + fidere "to trust" (see faith). Modern sense is of "distrusting oneself" (1651). The original sense was the opposite of confidence.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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