confidence

UK/ˈkɒn.fɪ.dəns/US/ˈkɑn.fɪ.dəns/

nounB23 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,550 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: confidences

Confidence is the quiet certainty that you can do the thing. Walking into an interview already knowing your answers, speaking first in a meeting, driving a road you have driven a hundred times.

Confidence is also trust placed in somebody else: I have every confidence in her, the vote of confidence a manager needs, a government losing the confidence of the country. There is a third and older sense as well — a secret shared. Told in confidence means told privately and not to be repeated, and to take somebody into your confidence is to trust them with something. A confidence trick is a swindle that works by winning trust first, and that is where con man comes from. Mind the neighbours: confident is the adjective, and a confidant is the person you tell things to.

Definitions of confidence

1nounconfidenceBelief that you can do things well; certainty in your own ability.B2~35%
“Six months of practice gave her the confidence to perform alone.”
synonyms: self-assurance, self-belief
2nountrustTrust in another person or thing.B2~63%
“The staff have lost confidence in the new system.”
synonyms: trust, faith
3nounsecretA secret told privately, or the privacy in which it is told.B2~2%
“He told me in confidence and I have never repeated it.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 14 sentences found in the wild and placed 14 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

confidence is a feeling of certainty.

Phrases it lives in

in confidence — privately, on the understanding that it will not be repeated
a vote of confidence — a formal or public show of support

Where it comes from

Latin cōnfīdentia grew out of cōnfīdō, to believe or confide in — con-, with, plus fīdō, to trust, from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeydʰ-. Trust is the root of the whole word: confidence in yourself and confidence in a friend are the same act pointed in two directions, and confide is the near neighbour that keeps the secret sense alive.

Proto-Indo-European
*bʰeydʰ-
Old French
confidence
Latin
cōnfīdentia
Middle English
confidence
English, today
confidence

Built from

cōnfīdō · Latin — believe, confide in
con- · Latin — with
fīdō · Latin — trust

From Middle English confidence, from Latin cōnfīdentia (possibly via Old French confidence), from cōnfīdō (“believe, confide in”) from con- (“with”) + fīdō (“trust”). by surface analysis, confide + ence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Feelings & Character, Mental Health & Wellbeing

Practise this word

confidence in the wild

Depending on a country's constitution, a no-confidence motion may be directed against the entire cabinet.
Motion of no confidence
If, however, a minority government can negotiate a confidence and supply agreement with parties sufficient to maintain a majority, it can be as stable as a majority government.
Minority government
Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future.
Confidence
Khan became the first prime minister in Pakistan to lose a vote of no-confidence.
No-confidence motion against Imran Khan
The basis for the rule against bias is the need to maintain public confidence in the legal system.
Natural justice

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the fīdō family

confidence

confidence — used about once every 171 pages · #1,550 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of confidence

1nounconfidenceBelief that you can do things well; certainty in your own ability.B2~35%

“Six months of practice gave her the confidence to perform alone.”

synonyms: self-assurance, self-belief

2nountrustTrust in another person or thing.B2~63%

“The staff have lost confidence in the new system.”

synonyms: trust, faith

3nounsecretA secret told privately, or the privacy in which it is told.B2~2%

“He told me in confidence and I have never repeated it.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 14 sentences found in the wild and placed 14 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

confidence is a feeling of certainty.