Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
lack of self-confidence
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: self-doubt, self-distrust
Antonyms: confidence
Broader terms: timidity, timidness, timorousness
Narrower terms: hesitance, hesitancy, unassertiveness
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.
Across languages
Translations
27 source translations are retained for this English entry.
-
Afrikaans:
Verleentheid
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Bulgarian:
неувереност
(neuverenost)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Bulgarian:
нерешителност
(nerešitelnost)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Bulgarian:
стеснителност
(stesnitelnost)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Danish:
forsagthed
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Danish:
tilbageholdenhed
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Danish:
beskedenhed
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Dutch:
verlegenheid
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Dutch:
terughoudendheid
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Dutch:
bescheidenheid
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Esperanto:
timideco
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
French:
timidité
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
German:
Zurückhaltung
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
German:
Verlegenheit
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
German:
Schüchternheit
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Greek:
αιδημοσύνη
(aidimosýni)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Irish:
cotadh
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Māori:
ahaahatanga
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Norwegian Bokmål:
forlegenhet
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Norwegian Bokmål:
tilbakeholdenhet
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Norwegian Bokmål:
beskjedenhet
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Russian:
застенчивость
(zastenčivostʹ)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Russian:
ро́бость
(róbostʹ)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Russian:
неуве́ренность
(neuvérennostʹ)
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Tagalog:
himan
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
Tagalog:
kahimanan
— the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
-
German:
Diffidenz
— mistrust
