Dictionary

diffidence en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• dĭf′ĭ-dəns
• /ˈdɪfɪdəns/
• dĭf′ĭ-dĕns″
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Latin diffīdentiam (“distrust”), from diffīdere (“to mistrust”), from dis- and fīdere (“to trust”). Attested since ∼1400. The original sense was antonymous with confidence, and the modern sense of ‘distrusting oneself’ dates from the 1650s.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
   • My father was in the meantime overjoyed and in the bustle of preparation only recognized in the melancholy of his niece the diffidence of a bride. 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
   • I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying than I can. 1857, Brigham Young, Journal of Discources: Attention and Reflection Necessary to An Increase of Knowledge, etc.:
   • "I was passing by," he began to stammer, trembling with his diffidence, "I—happened to be passing along this way, and so—er—as I was passing this way, I says to myself, says I, 'I'll just stop into the shop a minute.' 1897, William Henry Bishop, transl., Cleto's Proposal to Sotileza, translation of original by José María de Pereda:
   • And Rick with unwonted diffidence had accepted his exclusion. Now with the same diffidence he came, looking trim and loving and mysteriously humble. 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
   • Without scruple—without apology—without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, was professing himself her lover. 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 15, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
   • [...] [H]ee had brought the Parliment into ſo juſt a diffidence of him, as that they durſt not leave the Public Armes to his diſpoſal [...] 1649, J[ohn] Milton, chapter XII, in ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 122:
   • I have no diffidence of your abilities—only be constant to one roguery at a time 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.Scene the Last
   • [Charles, King of France]: We have been guided by thee hitherto, And of thy cunning had no diffidence: One sudden foil shall never breed distrust. 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

Forms

Translations (27)

mi ahaahatanga (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · da forsagthed (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · eo timideco (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · ru застенчивость (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nl bescheidenheid (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · tl himan (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · bg неувереност (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · fr timidité (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · da tilbageholdenhed (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nl verlegenheid (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · de Zurückhaltung (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · ga cotadh (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nb beskjedenhet (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · bg нерешителност (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · el αιδημοσύνη (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · de Verlegenheit (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nb forlegenhet (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · tl kahimanan (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · af Verleentheid (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · de Diffidenz (mistrust) · ru неуве́ренность (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · de Schüchternheit (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · bg стеснителност (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nl terughoudendheid (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · nb tilbakeholdenhet (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · ru ро́бость (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement) · da beskedenhed (the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement)