All 3 Uses of
diffident
in
Doctor Zhivago
- He knew this hereditary trait in himself and watched with an alert diffidence for symptoms of it in himself.†
Chpt 1.1 *diffidence = hesitancy and unassertiveness due to a lack of self-confidence
- Its evening light was diffident, a little timid, like a cow from a near-by herd come to take a look at the crowd.†
Chpt 1.1diffident = hesitant and unassertive
- On that warm gray morning in the mountains, Zhivago felt sorry for the Tsar, was disturbed at the thought that such diffident reserve and shyness could be the essential characteristics of an oppressor, that a man so weak could imprison, hang, or pardon.†
Chpt 1.4
Definition:
hesitant and unassertive -- often due to a lack of self-confidence