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
At its best, the uncomfortably intimate aesthetic of the films combined with the general diffidence at their heart attempted to epitomize a generational temperament and linguistic sensibility.
—
Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
Weaver brings a deceptive diffidence to Shelly, and Coleman is suitably enigmatic as V. Stiviano, a paragon of modern fameosexual ambition.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 3 June 2024
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
One reason for the diffidence may be that Shao-Horn already has another project for building larger electrodes to be used in EV applications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 June 2010
See All Example Sentences for diffidence
Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
Weaver brings a deceptive diffidence to Shelly, and Coleman is suitably enigmatic as V. Stiviano, a paragon of modern fameosexual ambition.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 3 June 2024
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
One reason for the diffidence may be that Shao-Horn already has another project for building larger electrodes to be used in EV applications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 June 2010
See All Example Sentences for diffidence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diffidence
Noun
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Indulgence can tip over into self-indulgence all too easily; holding back can result in a timidity that makes a song sound at odds with its subject.—
Maura Johnston,
Rolling Stone,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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She was particularly struck by the quietness of Latronico, and noticed that there didn’t seem to be any children around.—
Silvia Marchetti,
CNN Money,
25 Aug. 2025
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Seen as a whole, though, that quietness can sometimes verge on monotony, songs running into the next with little to grab onto — like an evaporating phantom.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The in-house caliber 113, a hand-wound movement with a 10-day power reserve, also drives a patented nonlinear power reserve indicator that appears to slow down as the time to wind approaches.—
Carol Besler,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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And with the 25-player limit on La Liga squads — even though Mastantuono was registered with the Real Madrid Castilla reserve team in case of a new arrival — Madrid’s room for more incoming players was minimal.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Failing that, to batter you into submission, to convince you that Israel’s power and control is so great that it cannot be faced, and must only be endorsed or endured.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
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Jacir is also premiering her latest feature, Palestine 36, a historical drama about the 1936 uprising against British rule that just became Palestine’s international Oscar submission.—
Mathew Scott,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Rose's shyness made the initial transition to shelter life difficult, with the dog struggling to adjust to the hustle and bustle of her new life.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Aug. 2025
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Hawley is a creator who has never lacked confidence in his own work, nor a shyness about expressing that confidence.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Diffidence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diffidence. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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