as in timidity
the quality or state of lacking confidence or assertiveness
He met the girl's gaze with awkward diffidence.
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Recent Examples of diffidence
Norman Mailer wrote with an unstable mixture of self-indulgence and self-awareness, bravado and diffidence, glibness and bracing honesty, macho posturing and an almost sheepish gentleness.
—
Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 28 Mar. 2024
The people who’ve worked with her, however, describe an impressive resolve beneath the diffidence.
—Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024
The simultaneous inward intensity of feeling and outward diffidence, the emotional and moral dangers of simulation, the hot alien beauty of the city ...
—Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023
Despite her diffidence about feminist smugness, there’s no shortage of reflexive feminist mockery of men, though also a wonderful passage about the special female thrill in locating the tender heart of the brute.
—Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for diffidence
Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 28 Mar. 2024
The people who’ve worked with her, however, describe an impressive resolve beneath the diffidence.
—Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024
The simultaneous inward intensity of feeling and outward diffidence, the emotional and moral dangers of simulation, the hot alien beauty of the city ...
—Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023
Despite her diffidence about feminist smugness, there’s no shortage of reflexive feminist mockery of men, though also a wonderful passage about the special female thrill in locating the tender heart of the brute.
—Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for diffidence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diffidence
Noun
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With the Pacers giving at least 10 players significant minutes in Games 1-3, will Game 4 mark another breakout for one of Indiana's reserves?—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 May 2025
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Wong replied that the $4 million will come from town reserves, and thus won’t affect the tax rate or residents’ tax bills.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
26 May 2025
Noun
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Finally, applications submitted through national job boards typically are never reviewed by a human out of necessity, because there are so many low-quality and/or AI-powered job application bot submissions on those boards.—
Rebecca Fraser-Thill,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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Tuition is $525 for applications submitted by June 30 and $575 for submissions past that date.—
Mike Danahey,
Chicago Tribune,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Diffidence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diffidence. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.
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