Word of the Day

Wednesday December 30, 2009

diffident [DIF-uh-dunt; -dent]

adjective

Johnston was diffident and left little archival material for a garden historian to explore, but Clarke gives us the story of how Hidcote came to be made and, more precariously, came to be saved. The garden covers 10 acres but seems much larger through the artful subdivision of space into outdoor rooms and long views framed by what I call hedge architecture.

Adrian Higgins, "Gifts to help sow the seeds of inspiration", The Washington Post, Dec 10, 2009
But in a recent interview with Fox News, the president sounded diffident and nervous about his economic policy. He spoke vaguely about possible tax incentives for job creation. But "it is important though to recognize," he went on, "that if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession."

Paul Krugman, "The Phantom Menace", New York Times, Nov 23, 2009
About this time there arrived in Virginia a dissolute stranger with a literary turn of mind--rather seedy he was, but very quiet and unassuming; almost diffident, indeed.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American author and humorist. Roughing It, Part 6 (1880)

Origin of the Word

Diffident, approximately 1590, derives from Latin diffidentem, present participle of diffidere.