(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.
Shy
Definition:
(superl.) Easily frightened; timid; as, a shy bird.
(superl.) Reserved; coy; disinclined to familiar approach.
(superl.) Cautious; wary; suspicious.
(a.) To start suddenly aside through fright or suspicion; -- said especially of horses.
(v. t.) To throw sidewise with a jerk; to fling; as, to shy a stone; to shy a slipper.
(n.) A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
(n.) A side throw; a throw; a fling.
Example Sentences:
(1) Philip Shaw, chief economist at broker Investec, expects CPI to hit 5.1%, just shy of the 5.2% reached in September 2008, as the utility hikes alone add 0.4% to inflation.
(2) The Vc was dramatically increased in the qk, slightly decreased in the shi, and close to control in the mld.
(3) Twellman has steadily grown in confidence as he settles into his role, though whether as a player or as an advocate he was never shy about voicing his opinions.
(4) It’s going to affect everybody.” The six songs from Rebel Heart released thus far do not shy away from controversy: one, Illuminati, mocks the various conspiracy theories on the internet that implicate a variety of entertainers – including Jay-Z and Lady Gaga – in membership of a shadowy ruling elite.
(5) But today, Americans increasingly no longer shy away from saying they oppose mosques on the grounds that Muslims are a threat or different.
(6) In general, we've shied away from offering opinions on the rest of the industry – I don't think it's appropriate.
(7) Never camera-shy, he also leaves his legacy on celluloid too.
(8) On the other hand, if past experience is anything to go by, this government isn’t shy of a U-turn ; and, if Whittingdale and his advisers aren’t completely deaf, they may at least detect that he would do well to keep the relish out of his voice as he announces the steps he intends to take.
(9) It’s as if they were a team away from the team, and they’re not shy of plugging into it.
(10) And just a few games shy of making history, the Warriors blew a 17-point lead and fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves – another team that didn’t even come close to making the playoffs – after forcing the game into overtime.
(11) She was a little shy as a child, a big reader who loved movies as much as books and thought from an early age that she would be a writer.
(12) By contrast, in Shy-Drager cases there was a highly significant reduction in intermediolateral column cells compared with the normal cords.
(13) A ceremony will take place at which Jolie will receive the child, who is said to be healthy, likeable, a bit shy and keen on football.
(14) A young, shy jihadi named Fouad took us into an abandoned building, where a meal was spread out on the floor.
(15) Sterling fell 1.3% against the dollar to $1.6495, just shy of a session low $1.6475.
(16) Estimates of panda numbers in the wild vary enormously due to the difficulty of collecting data about the notoriously shy animal, which lives in dense, high-altitude vegetation: the last survey required more than 35,000 volunteers.
(17) The move signals a change for Democrats , who have traditionally shied away from gun control in a state with a pioneer tradition of gun ownership.
(18) What's more, his genial stiffness and shy self-awareness give him a kind of awkward dignity compared to the preening smugness of Cruz.
(19) Pausing while much of the audience booed the protester, Obama responded: "We're not going to shy away from things that are uncomfortable."
(20) Another shy Tory, who teaches at a secondary school in north Kent, says she voted Ukip in the European elections.