(a.) Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve.
Example Sentences:
(1) The Observer of the mid-1950s resembled nothing so much as a giant seminar conducted by the soft-spoken and diffident, yet steely, figure of David Astor.
(2) The main factor, however, is presumably not primness or diffidence but the chart's timeframe.
(3) Physically, he has a sort of wiry poise, often standing on the balls of his feet, but there is also something diffident, almost shyly polite, about him.
(4) In conversation, he is a curious mix of openness and a sweet, faintly diffident shyness.
(5) Diffident technically, she none the less doggedly pursued the detail of the execution of her scenery and costumes: she got what she needed.
(6) Wouldn't we rather our film writers be morally engaged viewers rather than diffident aesthetes?
(7) She too is a sceptic, but has been drawn to watch diffident Corbyn – potentially her future leader.
(8) His maiden speech came on his second day as an MP, in the debate on the address – intervening, he suggested improbably, with feelings of diffidence: "I am convinced that the key to all our hopes and aspirations in the field of economic activity lies in the maintenance and improvement of industrial relationships," he said.
(9) They were difficult because of the language barrier, which required exclusive use of interpreters, and because of the diffidence of the women themselves, especially in discussing matters of sex and childbearing.
(10) He is an odd, diffident sort of ambassador, spreading the message about "the Finnish miracle" but not really believing in the data that supposedly proves that it works.
(11) It stars Tom Hollander as a diffident, gaffe-prone British minister who is packed off to Washington DC, where he becomes a pawn in the political opposition to the war.
(12) And soon he was among them, grinning his diffident chipmunk smile, with his wife, a striking vision in white and red, beside him.
(13) A magnet for media coverage around the world thanks to his entrepreneurial success and love of a photo opportunity, Branson can be surprisingly diffident in person.
(14) He was too nervous – petrified before a big case, and diffident about his own abilities.
(15) At 43, he still looked boyish, with his questioning eyes, a thatch of hair and diffident mumbles.
(16) The media glamourised professional women who decided to have children while pursuing demanding careers, and warned women who put off having children that they would regret their diffidence later.
(17) Like Henry, whom Wenger signed as a diffident winger from Juventus in his early twenties in 1999, Welbeck has arrived at Arsenal after doing more running than scoring at Manchester United with the invitation to develop in a more favoured central attacking role.
(18) That diffidence is evident on screen, in Mia's core of vulnerability, the lonely anguish she camouflages with violence and filthy language.
(19) The man whose motto is a diffident "just messin' about" talks with unguarded passion about the process of music-making.
(20) In 1991, Gavin Millar filmed Call For The Dead's successor A Murder Of Quality, with Denholm Elliott as Smiley, his nervous diffidence dovetailing perfectly with the character.
Distrustful
Definition:
(a.) Not confident; diffident; wanting confidence or thrust; modest; as, distrustful of ourselves, of one's powers.
(a.) Apt to distrust; suspicious; mistrustful.
Example Sentences:
(1) Don't we by chance come across this reciprocal spiral perspective when two people distrust one another without actually showing it?
(2) As Aesop reminds us at the end of the fable: “Nobody believes a liar, even when he’s telling the truth.” When leaders choose only the facts that suit them, people don’t stop believing in facts – they stop believing in leaders This distrust is both mutual and longstanding, prompting two clear trends in British electoral politics.
(3) (The leadership may distrust him, but surely couldn't, in such circumstances, keep him out of cabinet.)
(4) The public, throughout the years of the coalition government, has been empowered to distrust teachers.
(5) We should distrust those who sell the snake oil of simple solutions,” he said today.
(6) So little wonder that the spectacle of five safety incidents in a week – however minor – could trigger rumblings of distrust from a nervous public.
(7) Rioters revealed that a complex mix of grievances brought them on to the streets but analysts appointed by the LSE identified distrust and antipathy toward police as a key driving force.
(8) Particular attention is given to the effect that an environment of intensified anger, hostility, distrust, and despair has on the coping mechanisms of terminally ill, incarcerated patients.
(9) That spirit of co-operation represents a drastic change from the calamitous Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, when diplomatic snubs and general distrust between the two countries wrecked any prospect for a deal.
(10) Hassan said a ceasefire could theoretically benefit the rebels if it were implemented in good faith, but that many distrust the government’s motives.
(11) It’s fuelled by distrust of the fact that major labels own at least 18% of the company through equity stakes granted when it was negotiating its first licences in 2007 and 2008.
(12) There are numerous studies now on how there are no connections between autism and immunization.” “The main place that [mercury] still exists is in the flu vaccines and people have the option to get the flu vaccine without mercury in it.” Carrey has expressed his distrust of vaccinations in the past.
(13) Above all it needs to happen soon, before the contagion, and the poisonous distrust it engenders, spread further.
(14) In Yokohama, distrust of medical care appeared to be higher among those interviewees who did not have a family doctor than those who had.
(15) Appalling events illustrating the distrust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, particularly communities of color, continue to manifest day after day in neighborhoods across America,” said Kanya Bennett, of the American Civil Liberties Union.
(16) The spiral of distrust may continue without a semblance of the following remedies.
(17) So when you give them that, of course they’re going to fund you and give you resources and connect you to the right people.” That there are imams on the taskforce is also a concern to imam Hassan Jaamici Mohamud, who believes it conflates church and state, and could cause distrust among the congregations.
(18) The legal drama adds to political uncertainty at a time when the government can ill afford to be distracted from a dizzying array of crises, including widespread unrest over electricity shortages and Pakistan's deeply distrustful relationship with the US.
(19) This goes to the foundational relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities that they’re sworn to serve and to protect.” In remarks at the meeting Obama said the “simmering distrust” between police and minority communities was not unique to St Louis but relevant to communities across the country.
(20) Intended to foster a sense of belonging and being part of a collective endeavour, it instead turned Beijing into a place of introverted islands, separated by competition and mutual distrust.