I. ˈkänfədən(t)s also -d ə n- or -ˌden- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin confidentia, from confident-, confidens (present participle of confidere to confide) + -ia -y
1. : the state of one that confides : trust , reliance , belief
a cheerful confidence in the mercy of God — T.B.Macaulay
2. : feeling or consciousness of reliance on oneself or one's circumstances : self-confidence
a doctor's increasing confidence and skill
painters who had … lost their confidence — W.B.Yeats
3. : the state of feeling sure : certitude — usually used with of
great confidence of success
the level of confidence accepted for a given set of statistical data
4. : brashness , presumption , impudence
he had that confidence which the first thinker of anything never has, for all thinkers … approach the truth full of hesitation and doubt. Confidence comes from repetition, from the breath of many mouths — W.B.Yeats
5. obsolete : an object of faith or reliance
for the Lord shall be thy confidence — Prov 3:26 (Authorized Version)
6.
a. : a relation or state of trust or intimacy between persons who confide in each other
take a friend into one's confidence concerning a private affair
b. obsolete : trustworthiness
c. : a communication made in confidence
the confidences between lawyer and client
d. : trust in or support of the policy or action of a prime minister and his cabinet expressed by a formal vote of the legislature in a parliamentary system of government
Synonyms: see trust
II. adjective
: having to do with the appropriation by a swindler of funds entrusted to him usually by a dupe promised large and easy profits from a type of investment not generally considered ethical
confidence game
confidence man
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to swindle especially by exploiting confidence or desire for quick gain