diffident

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   lacking self-confidence

   Stood in the doorway diffident and abashed.

2. 2
   adj

   showing modest reserve

   I was diffident when offering a comment on the professor's lecture.

3. 3
   adj

   Lacking self-confidence; timid; modest

   Having therefore—but hold, as we are diffident of our own abilities, let us here invite a superior power to our assistance.

Simplified etymology

Diffident, recorded in late Middle English, comes from Latin fides, the source of faith, fidelity, confidence, and confide. Its original meaning was “lacking in trust.”

From Latin diffīdentem, present participle of diffīdere (“to mistrust”). Doublet of defiant.

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