diffidently

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Well,” he began diffidently, “essentially I’m a writer.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

Yes, we were responding to anonymous prompts, but we were looking, respectfully and diffidently, at a fellow human being.

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2021

Joel smiled diffidently and admitted, "The ball has been bouncing my way so far."

From Golf Digest • Apr. 16, 2020

“You are the governor, right?” one of the women asked diffidently.

From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2015

Impressed by this extraordinarily bad ERA, I diffidently informed my teacher, who told me to explain the fact to my class.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos