diffidentlyadv.
/ˈdɪfᵻd(ə)ntli/, U.S. /ˈdɪfəd(ə)ntli/ In a diffident manner (in either sense of the adjective); with diffidence.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > lack of confidence, distrust, suspicion > [adverb]
suspiciously1549
mistrustingly1552
misdoubtfully1575
diffidently1581
mistrustfully1589
distrustfully1611
jealouslya1665
disconfidently1666
misgivingly1850
askance1951
sus1958
the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > shyness or bashfulness > [adverb] > diffidently
diffidently1581
1581 W. Fowler Answer Hammiltoun sig. B.iijv For then diffidently and maist dispairitly thay..commit to sic an ignorant asne.
1621 T. Taylor Parable of Sower & Seed 179 Alwayes remembring, not diffidently, not distrustfully,..whereby we should daily depend on his hand and prouidence.
1678 A. Lovell tr. La Fontaine Mil. Duties Cavalry 88 If the Governour carry himself diffidently and prudently, the Major has no cause to complain.
1702 M. Sylvester Christian's Race & Patience I. vi. 164 We need not diffidently cry..Are not these Evils come upon us because the Lord our God is not amongst or for us?
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (Dublin ed.) V. 343 Dobson and his dame coming diffidently..up the Avenue.
1825 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 245 It is..a fair promise of eminence and distinction, when a man thinks modestly and diffidently of himself.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits vi. 107 Don't creep about diffidently; make up your mind.
1921 Cosmopolitan July 110/3 Irene..smiled diffidently at him from within the circle of another man's arm.
1965 J. Goldberg Jazz Masters of Fifties 155 A diffidently epigrammatic conversationalist.
2013 Daily Nation (Nairobi) (Nexis) 6 Sept. Kisaka would diffidently assert that my poems were far more superior to his.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adv.1581