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diffident

dif·fi·dent/ˈdɪfɪdənt/adjective

diffident is spelled D-I-F-F-I-D-E-N-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables (dif·fi·dent). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, diffident means “Lacking self-confidence; timid; modest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in diffident?

Letters9: D-I-F-F-I-D-E-N-T
Syllables3: dif·fi·dent
In writingabout once in every 8 million words; the 84,254th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is diffident?

Diffident appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce diffident?

  • /ˈdɪfɪdənt/

Diffident has 3 syllables, split dif·fi·dent in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-diffident.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of diffident

  • more diffident comparative
  • most diffident superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does diffident mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    archaicLacking confidence in others; distrustful.

  2. 2

    Lacking self-confidence; timid; modest

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Diffident in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchméfiant (distrustful), timide (lacking confidence in oneself)
Germanmisstrauisch (distrustful), schüchtern, unsicher (lacking confidence in oneself)
Spanishdifidente (distrustful), apocado, desconfiado, tímido (lacking confidence in oneself)
Portuguesetímido, inseguro (lacking confidence in oneself)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does diffident come from?

From Latin diffīdentem, present participle of diffīdere (“to mistrust”). Doublet of defiant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after diffident