Diffident

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdɪfɪdÉ™nt/

Origin

Latin present participle of diffidere ("to mistrust")

Full definition of diffident

Adjective

1. (archaic): Lacking confidence in others; distrustful.
2. Lacking confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve.
• Fielding Tom Jones|IV|viiiHaving therefore—but hold, as we are diffident of our own abilities, let us here invite a superior power to our assistance.
• 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, At an early point in these exchanges I had started to sidle to the door, and I now sidled through it, rather like a diffident crab on some sandy beach trying to avoid the attentions of a child with a spade.