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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DIFFIDENT

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pronounce DIFFIDENT:

DIFF uh dunt
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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.

Our game for this month is "Spot the Sharper Image."

Which of the two items described below is a real one that you can order from the Sharper Image catalog, and which one did I invent? Scroll to the bottom to see which one is real!

Try this set today:

Item A: Anti-Fatigue Left-Handed Vibrating Scissors. "Finally, a soothing pair of scissors for the woefully neglected ten percent of the population."

Item B: Rechargeable Callus Vacuum. "Includes two coarse grit exfoliating heads and one fine grit head."

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




Answers to the review questions:
1. B
2. A

Answer to the game question:

You truly can order a Rechargeable Callus Vacuum from the Sharper Image catalog.


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:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

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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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