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# diffident

«diffident» in Mova's school dictionary: **Shy and not sure of yourself; not wanting to speak up or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (diffident, more diffident, most diffident)

### meaning for a pupil

Shy and not sure of yourself; not wanting to speak up or push yourself forward. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

Used in stories to describe a quiet, modest, unsure person. Mole is diffident at first with the grand Badger. In everyday life a diffident child might know the answer but not put a hand up.

### examples

- The diffident boy rarely spoke in class. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x1)
- Mole felt diffident in front of the great Badger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x2)
- She gave a diffident smile. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x3)
- He was diffident about showing his drawing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x4)
- Don't be diffident — your idea is good! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x5)
- The new girl was diffident on her first day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x6)
- In a diffident voice, he asked for help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/#x7)

### note

Adjective; noun: diffidence. Opposite: confident (both come from Latin «to trust»; diffident = not trusting yourself). Don't confuse with «different».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «diffident» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diffident/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.