confidence
(Formal)
[noun]
Synonyms:
- trust, belief, credence, dependence, faith, reliance
- self-assurance, aplomb, assurance, boldness, courage, firmness, nerve, self-possession
- in confidence: in secrecy, between you and me (and the gatepost), confidentially, privately

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Antonyms: doubt, apprehension, diffidence
Contrasted words: distrust, mistrust, despair, hopelessness, apprehension, incertitude, misgiving, self-depreciation, self-doubt, uncertitude
Related Words: courage, mettle, resolution, spirit, tenacity, brashness, impudence, presumption

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English Thesaurus: confidence, have the confidence to do something, full of confidence, self-confidence, morale, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

con‧fi‧dence S2 W2 /ˈkɒnfədəns, ˈkɒnfɪdəns $ ˈkɑːn-/ noun
[Word Family: noun: confidence, confidant, confidentiality; adverb: confidently, confidentially; adjective: confident, confidential; verb: confide]

1. FEELING SOMEBODY/SOMETHING IS GOOD [uncountable] the feeling that you can trust someone or something to be good, work well, or produce good results
confidence in
Public confidence in the government is at an all-time low.
She had complete confidence in the doctors.
Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the administration.

2. BELIEF IN YOURSELF [uncountable] the belief that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully
confidence in
I didn’t have any confidence in myself.
confidence to do something
Good training will give a beginner the confidence to enjoy skiing.
I felt I was doing well and my confidence began to grow.
with confidence
Our goal is to prepare students to go into the business world with confidence.

3. FEELING SOMETHING IS TRUE [uncountable] the feeling that something is definite or true
say/speak/predict etc with confidence
How can anyone say with confidence that the recession is over?
confidence in
I have complete confidence in Mr Wright’s analysis of the situation.
have confidence (that)
I have every confidence that the job will be completed satisfactorily on time.

4. KEEP INFORMATION SECRET [uncountable] if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them something on the understanding that they will not tell anyone else ⇒ confide
in confidence
I’ll tell you about Moira – in confidence, of course.
in strict/the strictest confidence
Any information given during the interview will be treated in the strictest confidence.
breach of confidence (=when someone tells someone something that they were told in confidence)
Lawyers are satisfied that no breach of confidence took place.

5. take somebody into your confidence to tell someone your secrets or private or personal details about your life:
Elsa took me into her confidence and told me about some of the problems she was facing.

6. A SECRET [countable] a secret or a piece of information that is private or personal
share/exchange confidences
They spent their evenings drinking wine and sharing confidences.
I have never betrayed a confidence.
⇒ vote of confidence, vote of no confidence

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

confidence
noun
I. belief in others
ADJ. absolute, complete, full, total The company needs the full confidence of its investors.
great, high, real Confidence is high among the team's supporters.
reasonable | growing, increased, increasing | new, renewed | misplaced The general's confidence in his army proved misplaced.
international | popular, public public confidence in the government
business, consumer, customer, investor, market
VERB + CONFIDENCE enjoy, feel, have This government no longer enjoys the confidence of the public. We all have complete confidence in this product.
express He expressed confidence in the new plans.
be lacking in, lack | share She wished that she shared his confidence.
maintain, preserve to maintain public confidence in the system of justice
bolster, boost, build (up), enhance, improve, increase, lift, raise Higher profits should raise business confidence.
gain | command, create, develop, encourage, engender, generate, give (sb), inspire, instil The training is designed to give staff confidence in managing problems. The company's record does not really inspire confidence.
rebuild, restore, revive Only if the chairperson resigns will we be able to restore the confidence of our members.
lose This government has lost the confidence of the public.
damage, dent, sap, shake, undermine, weaken Only one bank scandal is needed to shake the confidence in the financial markets.
destroy, shatter
CONFIDENCE + VERB decrease | grow, increase, rise | return Confidence has returned to the market.
PREP. ~ about The captain was not lacking in confidence about his team's prospects.
~ among a loss of confidence among investors
~ between efforts to build confidence between employers and unions
~ in They have no confidence in the legal system.
PHRASES a crisis of confidence There is a crisis of confidence in the university about its future role. | have every/little/no/some confidence The captain of the football team said he had every confidence in his men.
a lack of confidence, a loss of confidence, a vote of (no) confidence This is a tremendous vote of confidence for the government.
a (no) confidence motion/vote The government lost a parliamentary confidence vote.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

confidence
II. belief in yourself
ADJ. considerable, enormous, great | sublime, supreme, tremendous, utter | added, extra | fresh, new-found | increased, increasing, growing | calm, quiet giving an outward appearance of quiet confidence
easy She spoke in a tone of easy confidence.
false All his false confidence had drained away.
inner, personal | social
VERB + CONFIDENCE have She has very little confidence in her own abilities.
show | feel ‘I can explain,’ he said, with a confidence he did not feel.
brim with, exude, be full of, ooze, radiate Since she got the new job, she's been brimming with confidence. a man who exudes confidence
be lacking in, lack A lot of children are lacking in confidence.
acquire, develop, gain, gather She's gained a lot of confidence over the last year.
grow in As the weeks went by he grew in confidence.
lose During his illness he really lost his confidence.
get back, rebuild, recover, regain, restore He's really striking the ball well and has got his confidence back.
bolster, boost, build (up), enhance Winning the competition really boosted her confidence.
give sb, instil to instil confidence in staff who feel nervous about taking on new roles
dent, sap, shake, undermine, weaken Failing his exams really dented his confidence.
destroy, shatter
CONFIDENCE + VERB drain (away), evaporate, go My confidence went completely after my first major defeat.
grow, increase, rise Their confidence grew with each success.
return
CONFIDENCE + NOUN boost, booster The home side badly need a confidence booster.
building Getting the certificate does a lot in terms of confidence building.
PREP. with ~ She answered the question with confidence.
~ about I lacked confidence about how I looked
~ in his confidence in himself
PHRASES a lack of confidence, a loss of confidence

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

confidence
III. trust
ADJ. absolute, complete, full, total | mutual
VERB + CONFIDENCE enjoy, have The Cabinet must enjoy the confidence of Parliament.
keep, retain | gain, get, win | build an environment which builds mutual confidence
betray, break | place, put Are we to place confidence in a minister who cannot remember a phone call he made last week?
withhold | take sb into She thought she might take Leo into her confidence.
CONFIDENCE + NOUN trick, trickster
PREP. in ~ She told me in confidence?I couldn't break that confidence, could I?
PHRASES a breach of confidence Telling other people what I'd said was a total breach of confidence.
in strict confidence Enquiries will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

confidence
IV. secret
ADJ. whispered
VERB + CONFIDENCE exchange, share The girls exchanged whispered confidences.
keep | betray I could never forgive Mike for betraying a confidence.
encourage, invite She didn't encourage confidences.
PHRASES an exchange of confidences

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

confidence

have confidence in somebody/something
The people no longer have any confidence in their government.
lose confidence in somebody/something
Employees are losing confidence in the company.
gain/win sb’s confidence
As team captain, he soon won the confidence of the players.
inspire confidence (=make people have confidence)
Our education system should inspire public confidence.
restore confidence (=make people have confidence again)
Interest rate reductions would restore business confidence.
boost confidence (=make people have more confidence)
The government is keen to boost consumer confidence and spending.
shake sb’s confidence (=make them have less confidence)
The stock market fall has shaken the confidence of investors.
undermine/damage/weaken sb’s confidence (=make someone have less confidence)
The situation in the US was undermining foreign confidence in the dollar.
destroy/shatter confidence in somebody/something
A further crisis has destroyed public confidence in the bank.
have every/complete/absolute confidence in somebody/something
A manager must be able to have complete confidence in his staff.
a lack of confidence
the public’s lack of confidence in the National Health Service
a crisis of confidence (=a situation in which people no longer trust a government, system etc)
the crisis of confidence over food safety
public confidence
The changes should improve public confidence in the system.
consumer confidence (=that ordinary people have when the economic situation is good)
Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest for two years.
business confidence (=that businesses have when the economic situation is good)
The region has gained 46,000 jobs and business confidence is high.
investor confidence (=that investors have when the economic situation is good)
A fall in the value of shares damages investor confidence.
have confidence
Young teenagers often don’t have a lot of confidence.
be full of confidence
The team are full of confidence.
brim with confidence (=be full of it)
Clive walked into the room, brimming with confidence as usual.
exude/radiate confidence (=show it in a very noticeable way)
As the leader, you have to exude confidence and authority.
lack/be lacking in confidence
She lacked the confidence to talk to people.
lose (your) confidence
He’d been out of work for six months and had lost all his confidence.
give somebody confidence
I had really good teachers who gave me a lot of confidence in myself.
gain confidence (also grow/gain in confidence) (=become more confident)
Paul did well in the job and gained a lot of confidence.
boost/increase sb’s confidence (=make someone feel more confident)
One of my stories was published, which really boosted my confidence.
build up sb’s confidence (=gradually increase it)
When you’ve had an accident, it takes a while to build up your confidence again.
undermine sb’s confidence (=gradually reduce it)
His constant criticism was undermining my confidence.
dent/shake sb’s confidence (=make it less strong)
A bad experience like that can dent your confidence.
destroy/shatter sb’s confidence
When she failed her degree, it shattered her confidence.
sb’s confidence grows/increases
Since she started her new school, her confidence has grown a lot.
a confidence boost
They offered me the job immediately, which was a real confidence boost.
confidence building (=making it develop)
Training for a big match is all about confidence building.
a lack of confidence
She had always suffered from insecurity and a lack of confidence.
a loss of confidence
As people age, they may suffer from a loss of confidence.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

confidence
noun
BAD: She has no confidence for what the future has to offer.
GOOD: She has no confidence in what the future has to offer.

Usage Note:
confidence in sb/sth : 'The trouble is she lacks confidence in her own ability.' 'It seems that investors have lost confidence in the major stock markets.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

confidence the feeling that you have the ability to do things well, and to not make mistakes or be nervous in new situations:
You need patience and confidence to be a good teacher.
⇒ have the confidence to do something:
‘We have the confidence to beat Brazil,’ said Sampson.
After the accident it took a long time before she had the confidence to get back in a car again.
⇒ full of confidence (=very confident):
I went into the test full of confidence, but it was more difficult than I had imagined.
self-confidence a strong belief that you can do things well and that other people will like you, which means you behave confidently in most situations:
He’s new in the job but he has plenty of self-confidence.
Studies show that girls tend to lose some of their self-confidence in their teenage years.
Students who get some kind of work experience develop greater self-confidence and better communication skills.
morale the level of confidence, satisfaction, and hope that people feel, especially a group of people who work together: low/high morale:
Morale among the soldiers has been low.
⇒ keep up morale (=keep it at a high level):
They sang songs to keep up their morale until the rescuers arrived.
assurance/self-assurance a feeling of calm confidence in your own abilities, especially because you have a lot of experience:
She envied the older woman’s assurance.
Danby spoke to the committee with the self-assurance of an expert.
self-esteem the feeling that you are someone who deserves to be liked and respected:
Getting a job did a lot for her self-esteem.
Sports should build a child’s self-esteem, not damage it.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲