diffident

• Pestalozzi was diffident, and in dress and manner careless to the point of slovenliness; Froebel was extravagant in his self-confidence, and at times almost a dandy in attire. —  Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel
• I must trust to the newspaper abuse of the first to supply me with materials for the second Sir William Harcourt was too diffident, as his brilliant speeches at Oxford and elsewhere, full of epigrams, had more effect on the electorate than any others—not even excepting Mr. Gladstone's speeches in his Midlothian campaign. —  The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke V1
• On the soil of his own county he was no longer the diffident, affable soul he had been on the Continent. —  Sweet Danger - Margery Allingham - Campion 05: 1933
• So the determined visitor reached his goal without undue delay, but the helpless and the impatient and the diffident were usually to be found wandering up and down the stairs and along the corridors, papers in hand, staring at the arrows and other marks that directed them to many fascinating and obscure trades, but never to the one they wanted. —  The Port of London Murders - Josephine Bell: 1938
• I knew she was naturally diffident, and distrustful of her own ability to do all that her heart might prompt. —  William Lloyd Garrison

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context