What does diffident mean?
Diffident means (archaic) Lacking confidence in others; distrustful..
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/ˈdɪfɪdənt/ · adjective
(archaic) Lacking confidence in others; distrustful..
Having therefore—but hold, as we are diffident of our own abilities, let us here invite a superior power to our assistance.
Emma is spoiled by being the cleverest of her family. At ten years old, she had the misfortune of being able to answer questions which puzzled her sister at seventeen. She was always quick and assured: Isabella slow and diffident.
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.
Use diffident when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Diffident means (archaic) Lacking confidence in others; distrustful..
Common synonyms include timid, modest, reserved, unsure.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Having therefore—but hold, as we are diffident of our own abilities, let us here invite a superior power to our assistance.
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