underconfident

U1N1D2E1R1C3O1N1F4I1D2E1N1T1

adjective

Insufficiently confident; lacking confidence.

Opposite
overconfidentoverweeningarrogant
OriginEnglish confident ← Middle English under- ← Old English under- →
Scrabble 21
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Meanings

adjectiveunderconfident (not comparable)
  1. not comparableInsufficiently confident; lacking confidence.

    In some ways, all people are underconfident.

    1949, Geraldine Saltberg, Our Teachers Mold Our Nation's Future, page 155

    Antonyms: overconfident, overweening, arrogant

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveInsufficiently confident; lacking confidence.

Opposite
overconfidentoverweeningarrogant

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Englishconfident
  13. Englishunderconfident

From under- + confident.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

underconfident. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underconfident

MLA

“underconfident.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underconfident. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “underconfident,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underconfident.

Source: underconfident on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.