Grammar Tips & Articles »

diffident - vocabulary

This Grammar.com article is about diffident - vocabulary — enjoy your reading!


44 sec read
2,257 Views
  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
Font size:

diffident - adjective

Lacking confidence in one’s own ability or worth; timid, shy.

[Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady] is bland on television and awkward as a public speaker. In a city of bombast and pomposity, Mr. Brady is unusually gentle and modest, a man who can and often does enter a restaurant or a large party unrecognized. At international meetings, he has taken pains not to stand out from the ministers of other countries. . . .

''In all my years in Washington,'' said an admirer who has served here in several different capacities in the Government over the last 35 years, ''I don't recall a Treasury Secretary as diffident as Brady.''

—David E. Rosenbaum “The Treasury's ‘Mr. Diffident’” New York Times, November 19, 1989

Note: You may download the Grammar eBook Build Your Vocabulary and get all 406 vocabulary words.

 

Next Word: dilatory Previous Word: didactic

Rate this article:

Have a discussion about this article with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this article to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "diffident - vocabulary." Grammar.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.grammar.com/diffident-vocabulary>.

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

    Browse Grammar.com

    Free Writing Tool:

    Instant
    Grammar Checker

    Improve your grammar, vocabulary, and writing -- and it's FREE!


    Quiz

    Are you a grammar master?

    »
    Choose the sentence with the correct use of comparative adjectives:
    A This book is more interesting than the last one.
    B She is the smartest in the class.
    C He runs fast but she runs more fast.
    D The mountain is higher than the hill.

    Improve your writing now:

    Download Grammar eBooks

    It’s now more important than ever to develop a powerful writing style. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages.