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Trepidation vs Diffidence - What's the difference?

trepidation | diffidence |

As nouns the difference between trepidation and diffidence

is that trepidation is trembling while diffidence is the state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.

trepidation

English

Noun

(-)
  • A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern.
    • I decided, with considerable trepidation , to let him drive my car without me.
  • * 1929 , , Chapter VII, Section vi
    • She opened the drawing-room door in trepidation . Would she find Esther drowned with her head in the goldfish bowl, or hanged from the chandelier by her stay-lace?
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=Marc Higginson , title=Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The Midlanders will hope the victory will kickstart a campaign that looked to have hit the buffers, but the sense of trepidation enveloping the Reebok Stadium heading into the new year underlines the seriousness of the predicament facing Owen Coyle's men.}}
  • An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear; quaking; quivering.
  • (astronomy, obsolete) A libration of the starry sphere in the Ptolemaic system; a motion ascribed to the firmament, to account for certain small changes in the position of the ecliptic and of the stars.

    • Synonyms

    * (fearful state) agitation, apprehension, consternation, fear, hesitation, worry

    Related terms

    * intrepid * trepid * trepidate * trepidatory * trepidancy * trepidity * trepidly * trepidatious

    Anagrams

    * *

    diffidence

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
  • * 1857 , Brigham Young, Journal of Discources'', ''
    • I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying than I can.
  • * 1897 , '' (an excerpt from ''Sotileza )
    • "I was passing by," he began to stammer, trembling with his diffidence , "I—happened to be passing along this way, and so—er—as I was passing this way, I says to myself, says I, 'I'll just stop into the shop a minute.'
  • (obsolete) Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
  • * 1591 , William Shakespeare, , act 3 scene 3
    • [Charles, King of France]: We have been guided by thee hitherto,
    And of thy cunning had no diffidence :
    One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.