This week’s theme
Miscellaneous words

This week’s words
vulnerary
soporific
mummery
intransigence
diffidence

This week’s comments
AWADmail 982

Next week’s theme
Nouning verbs and verbing nouns

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(DIF-i-duhns)

MEANING:

noun: Timidity or shyness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin diffidere (to mistrust), from dis- (not) + fidere (to trust). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bheidh- (to trust), which also gave us abide, abode, fiancé, affidavit, confide, confident, defiance, fidelity, defy, infidel, and diffident. Earliest documented use: 1425.

USAGE:

“It’s remarkable to find such swagger ... by the slouch of diffidence and doubt.”
Anthony Lane; Join In; The New Yorker; Jul 22, 2019.

See more usage examples of diffidence in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: