different between diffident vs puritanical

English

Etymology

Latin diff?dentem, present participle of diff?dere (“to mistrust”). Doublet of defiant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?f?d?nt/

Adjective

diffident (comparative more diffident, superlative most diffident)

1. (archaic) Lacking confidence in others; distrustful.
2. Lacking self-confidence; timid; modest

   Synonyms: timid, modest

Related terms

Translations

Latin

Verb

diff?dent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of diff?d?

English

Etymology

puritanic +? -al

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pj???.??tæn.?.k?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pj?.??tæn.?.kl?/

Adjective

puritanical (comparative more puritanical, superlative most puritanical)

1. Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.
2. Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid (often used by way of reproach or contempt).

Quotations

Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face. Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant.

Translations

Noun

puritanical (plural puritanicals)

1. One who holds puritanical attitudes.

Anagrams

• unpiratical