Make Your Point: DIFFIDENT

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pronounce DIFFIDENT:

DIFF uh dunt

connect this word to others:

If you have full faith in yourself, you're confident. If you don't, you're diffident.

In other words, confident people trust themselves, and diffident people don't.

Break the word diffident apart and you'll see its Latin roots: dif, meaning "away," and fidere, meaning "to trust."

See if you can recall another word based on fidere: it's p__fid____s, which means "sneaky, tricky, and betraying other people's trust."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Diffident" has Latin bits that literally mean "mistrusting" or "not confident."

Diffident people and things are shy and modest, without a strong sense of self-confidence.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a diffident glance," "He's loud with his friends, but with adults he's diffident."

Other forms:

The noun is "diffidence," and the adverb is "diffidently."

how to use it:

The word "diffident" is formal and semi-common. Its tone can be neutral ("He's a diffident child"), or negative ("She's diffident and boring"), or positive ("They're diffident and endearing").

We talk about diffident people and personalities, manners and behaviors, glances and looks, speech and comments, etc.

examples:

"His parents are diffident around Maxine, at first keeping their distance, not boisterous as they typically are around their Bengali friends."
— Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, 2003

"She was a very shy girl, very diffident. She deferred to her younger sister so that it would be Margaret who made the conversation."
— Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon, 8 December 2022

has this page helped you understand "diffident"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "diffident" without saying "not bold" or "not self-assured."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Some actor) plays the diffident (character), always (doing something shy, quiet, sheepish, or self-conscious)."

Example: "Michael Cera plays the diffident George-Michael Bluth on 'Arrested Development,' always harboring a crush but never acting on it."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

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review this word:

1. The precise opposite of DIFFIDENT is

A. CONFIDENT in the sense of "hopeful, sanguine."
B. CONFIDENT in the sense of "bold, self-assured."
C. CONFIDENT in the sense of "confidential, keeping secrets."

2. In his poem "Bright Copper Kettles," Vijay Seshadri describes "diffident" ghosts, including one who "_____."

A. shyly offers [him] a pencil
B. [possesses] the earth and [wreaks] vengeance
C. [appears]... in fields of goldenrod, in the city of five pyramids

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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