All 4 Uses
diffident
in
Babbitt
(Auto-generated)
- In the midst of these more diffident invitations, the golden doors of the ballroom opened with a blatting of trumpets, and a circus parade rolled in.†
Chpt 13 *diffident = hesitant and unassertive
- At the class-dinner he had seen poor Overbrook, in a shiny blue serge business-suit, being diffident in a corner with three other failures.†
Chpt 15
- Diffidently Babbitt outlined his own suggestions: "I think if you analyze the needs of the school, in fact, going right at it as if it was a merchandizing problem, of course the one basic and fundamental need is growth.†
Chpt 17diffidently = with hesitancy and unassertiveness
- The oppressive fear of criticism was gone, but a diffident loneliness remained.†
Chpt 28diffident = hesitant and unassertive
Definitions:
-
(1)
(diffident) hesitant and unassertive -- often due to a lack of self-confidence
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)