confidence

«confidence» in Mova's school dictionary: the feeling that you can do something well, or the belief… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (confidence — mostly uncountable; a confidence — a secret)

meaning for a pupil

1) Confidence is the feeling that you can do something well, or the belief in yourself: «She answered with confidence.» tree →

2) Confidence in someone or something is trust that they are good or will work well. tree →

3) A confidence is a secret that you tell someone you trust: «in confidence». tree →

sense in the lessons

In school and wellbeing lessons, confidence grows by practising, making mistakes and trying again (a growth mindset). In maths and science, being confident means you can explain your answer. In everyday life, «tell someone in confidence» means they should keep it private — but safety lessons say secrets about harm must be told to a trusted adult. Phrases: «self-confidence», «build confidence», «gain confidence», «in confidence», «lose confidence».

examples

• She spoke with confidence in front of the class. tree →
• Practice builds your confidence. tree →
• I have confidence in my team. tree →
• He lost confidence after he fell off his bike. tree →
• Swimming lessons gave me more confidence in the water. tree →
• She told me in confidence, so I won't tell. tree →
• The teacher has confidence that we can do it. tree →
• Confidence is believing you can learn, even if it's hard. tree →
• No one ever fails who has confidence in himself. tree →

note

Mostly uncountable: «a lot of confidence». Adjective: confident; adverb: confidently. Do not confuse with «confident» (adjective) or «confidential» (secret, private). Too much confidence can become showing off or not being careful.

In the corpora

• Confident writing makes people trust it, but confidence is not proof.
• Dancing in a group first can build the confidence to dance alone, and many dancers are shy off stage.
• He told everyone with great confidence that a spider has six legs.
• Older kids sometimes use their size and confidence to get unfair trades from younger ones.
• And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «confidence» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.