Word family noun confidence confidant confidentiality adjective confident confidential verb confide adverb confidently confidentially
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconfidentcon‧fi‧dent /ˈkɒnfɪdənt $ ˈkɑːn-/ ●●● S3 W3 adjective 1 [not before noun]SURE sure that something will happen in the way that you want or expectconfident (that) We are confident next year’s profits will be higher. He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time.confident of The Prime Minister appeared relaxed and confident of winning an overall majority. The company is confident of success.confident about I feel quite confident about the future.► see thesaurus at sure2 CONFIDENTsure that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully Despite her disability, Philippa is very confident.confident about I feel much more confident about myself and my abilities these days.confident smile/voice/manner etc He began to read in a calm confident voice.3 sure that something is trueconfident (that) We are confident we have done nothing wrong. He began to feel confident that Zaborski was only guessing. It is not possible to give a confident answer to the question of whether the delay was unreasonable. —confidently adverb → self-confidentGRAMMAR: Patterns with confident• You are confident about something: I’m quite confident about my English. ✗Don’t say: I’m quite confident of my English.• You are confident of victory or success, or confident of doing something: The team is confident of victory.The team is confident of winning.THESAURUSconfident sure that you have the ability to do something well or deal with situations successfullyShe seemed confident that she would pass.his calm and confident mannerGeorge was very confident about his abilities as a writer.Baldwin is confident of victory in this year’s senate race.self-confident/self-assured confident, and not shy or nervous in social situationsJess was only 12, but she was very self-confident.He was very self-assured and spoke without notes.I eventually became more self-confident as a public speaker. | supremely self-confidentShe was supremely self-confident, with the gift of being able to talk on any subject whenever the camera was rolling. self-possessed adjective confident, calm, and in control of your feelings even in a difficult situationassertive confident enough to say what you think and want, so that people take notice of youThe course helps women learn how to be more assertive in the workplace.sure of yourself confident that you are right, even when other people do not agree with youHe sounded so sure of himself that I didn’t bother to argue.Jenny was younger than her sister but seemed much more sure of herself.extrovert noun [countable] someone who behaves in a confident way in social situations and likes talking and being with other peopleMost actors are natural extroverts.Jan says her twin babies are completely different: Kelly is a real extrovert while Jessie is quiet and thoughtful.He’s a total extrovert who will talk to any stranger.not confidentlack confidence/be lacking in confidence to not be confident about your abilities or appearanceFrancine is lacking in confidence and needs a lot of encouragement.I was fat, had no friends, and lacked confidence.While girls lack confidence, boys often overestimate their abilities.shy not confident about meeting or speaking to people who you do not knowJane is a quiet shy person.He had been painfully shy (=very shy) as a child.insecure not confident about yourself or your relationships, especially because you are worried that you are not good enoughHis childhood had left him very insecure.Ben’s parents’ divorce left him lonely and insecure.Models can make young women feel insecure about their own bodies.unsure of yourself not confident, especially because you are young or you do not have much experienceAt first, Chris seemed nervous and unsure of herself.He was only 21 and still very unsure of himself with girls.discouraged /dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒd $ -ˈkɜːr-/ not confident that you can succeed, because you have had problems trying to do somethingStudents can become discouraged very easily if they are not given the help they need.I was very discouraged at the time, but I still hoped we could find a solution. | discouraged byDiscouraged by her failed marriages, she gradually withdrew from the world. | discouraged aboutHartman was so discouraged about the way his performing career was going, that he gave up acting for writing.demoralized someone who is demoralized has lost all their confidence and wants to give upThe team were completely demoralized after losing a series of games.a demoralized work forceMany employees became demoralized and cynical when the company announced another round of job cuts. | utterly/thoroughly demoralized Examples from the Corpus
confident• ''Do you think you'll win tomorrow's game?'' - ''Well, we're all feeling pretty confident''.• Also, my hair made me feel more confident.• I let go with another burst, feeling confident.• It's a difficult test, but she seems fairly confident.• Fat women may not feel confident about exposing their bodies in those ways traditionally associated with eroticism.• I'm not very confident about going back to work.• After living in France for a year, I felt much more confident about my French.• If only he were as confident as he pretended!• Of course, most of us feel more confident in some situations than in others.• Baldwin is confident of victory in this year's senate race.• A spokesman said the government was confident of winning the vote and would not discuss the possibility of defeat.• Sandy gave her a confident smile.• Doctors are confident that he'll make a full recovery.• Relatives of the men were confident the new evidence would eventually secure their release.• He gave his speech in a strong, confident voice.feel ... confident• In one sense Baldwin felt much more confident.• Do you feel totally confident about achieving the figure you want?• You will feel more confident at the interview because you have already achieved success.• Sometimes, not feeling confident in her judgement that he was playing up, she let him stay.• Of course, most of us feel more confident in some situations than in others.• Children must be heard, and must feel confident that they have an independent person to whom they can complain.• When we watch it, we can feel confident that we are witnessing a severe examination of the best in the game.• She feels confident without a father, husband, or son there.confident smile/voice/manner etc• After receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters, she delivered her speech in a mature and confident manner.• Christina found she was still staring as if mesmerized at Stein's confident smile.• Color returned to his face, his smile came back, and he read his speech in a strong, confident voice.• Finally she lifted her head and gave a confident smile.• Marc didn't miss her response, but gave a confident smile at the accuracy of his remark.• Stephen's confident smile never flickered.• His confident smile turns into a forced grin.feel confident• But he feels confident and is getting more and more confident every day.• He feels confident, dominant, and ready to pursue females.• However, when she felt confident enough, she attempted to renegotiate her pay deal and was promptly fired.• But how can we adults feel confident that our book talks will be wise?• As October 18 dawned, Joe felt confident that Stilwell was on his way out.• Children must be heard, and must feel confident that they have an independent person to whom they can complain.• When we watch it, we can feel confident that we are witnessing a severe examination of the best in the game.Origin confident (1500-1600) Latin present participle of confidere; → CONFIDE 