| He is paid to be serious, but his default mode is loose and playful, with a touch of hipster diffidence. |
| His gentleness, diffidence, enthusiasm, his sense of fun, his quietly mocking spirit enslaved everyone. |
| Was the miners' apparent diffidence at the event motivated by political considerations? |
| The singer's compelling, pensive and introverted lyrics were delivered with an unusual diffidence from a band enjoying their level of success. |
| So I think with some reluctance, with some diffidence, I come down on the positive side of the question. |
| It is with diffidence and humility that I greet the ultimate constitutional power in the Republic, the Presidential electors. |
