diffident
adjective
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What is an antonym of diffident?
Diffident and confident are etymologically related antonyms, perched at opposite ends of a scale of self-assurance. Both words trace back to the Latin verb fīdere, which means "to trust." Diffident arose from a combination of fīdere and the prefix dis-, meaning "the absence of"; it has been used to refer to individuals lacking in self-trust since the 15th century. Confident arose from confīdere, a term created by combining fīdere with the intensifying prefix con-. That term has been used for self-trusting folks since at least the late 16th century. Fīdere puts the trust in several other English words too, including fidelity and fiduciary.
Examples of diffident in a Sentence
Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, 2000
Whatever made him diffident at the prospect of having a military strike ordered in his defense, he kept it to himself. —George Stephanopoulos, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 1999
"It's Indianapolis 500," Andrew said with a polite smile, pleasing me with his diffident correction. —Camille Minichino, The Lithium Murder, 1999
… a boy of 8 or 13, gazing foursquare at the camera, diffident but showing off, petulant but vulnerable … —Walker Percy, New York Times Book Review, 11 Oct. 1987
She was diffident about stating her opinion. for someone who makes a living performing for other people, the actress is remarkably diffident in real life
Charlotte Brooks, Big Think, 13 Mar. 2026 This small, diffident moment is one more reason to mourn his death. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2025 In the new film Hot Milk, the sensual but diffident 20-something Sofia (Emma Mackey) travels with her invalid mother, Rose (Fiona Shaw), to the Mediterranean shores of Spain in search of an experimental cure for the latter’s (possibly hypochondriac) illness. —Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025 Today, they’re considered all-time greats, geniuses of melody and tension and originators of the diffident, philosophical mode that came to dominate American guitar rock in the new century. —Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2025 Having travelled to Rome, Fuller struck up a romance with a skinny, diffident twenty-six-year-old named Giovanni Angelo Ossoli. —James Marcus, New Yorker, 2 June 2025 Only a monumental defeat could stop South Africa qualifying for the semifinals so there was a rather diffident air to proceedings. —Tim Ellis, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025 In 2022, Quan starred as Waymond Wang, a seemingly diffident husband who transforms into a martial arts expert when crossing multiverses to save his family in the Daniels’ wild and emotional film Everything Everywhere All at Once. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 4 Feb. 2025 Consider Chatterton’s Fields of This, an exemplary case study, as the hazy slacker rock the Oxnard, California, duo of guitarist-keyboardist Brock Pierce and multi-instrumentalist Logan Scrivner dream up is brash yet diffident. —Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Diffident.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/diffident. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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diffident
adjective
