What is the opposite of 'confident'? All along I thought that it was 'inconfident'. Then a friend of mine said that it should be 'unconfident'. But I can't find the word in my dictionary. Is she correct?
Many thanks.
Best regards
Miss Tam
opposite of 'confident'
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- Josef Essberger
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Re: opposite of 'confident'
The words "inconfident" and "unconfident" do not exist in English.
Wordsmyth.net gives the following antonyms for "confident":
- apprehensive, hesitant, tentative, uncertain
- bashful, beaten, diffident, insecure, self-conscious, shy, tentative, timid, tremulous
For a more precise/direct "opposite" of "confident" you could also describe someone as "lacking in confidence" or say that s/he "lacks confidence".
Wordsmyth.net gives the following antonyms for "confident":
- apprehensive, hesitant, tentative, uncertain
- bashful, beaten, diffident, insecure, self-conscious, shy, tentative, timid, tremulous
For a more precise/direct "opposite" of "confident" you could also describe someone as "lacking in confidence" or say that s/he "lacks confidence".
- Vega
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Re: opposite of 'confident'
Excuse me, Josef, but in Oxford Dictionary of English, Revised Edition. © Oxford University Press 2005. the word unconfident exists.
Some antonyms: vacillating, unsure, unsteady
Some antonyms: vacillating, unsure, unsteady
- Josef Essberger
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Re: opposite of 'confident'
Thank you Vega, you are right. In fact, if I'd taken the trouble to look in my simple little Concise Oxford Dictionary I would have found unconfident.Vega wrote:Excuse me, Josef, but in Oxford Dictionary of English, Revised Edition. © Oxford University Press 2005. the word unconfident exists.
However, it is an extremely rare adjective today. Many people would find it clumsy or awkward and would prefer not confident or lacking confidence etc.
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Re: opposite of 'confident'
I would rather say it's "unsure" in the opposite of confident.