confidence - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online

confidence
noun

con‧fi‧dence S2 W2 See pronunciation table in "How to use dictionary" pages

feeling somebody/something is good

[uncountable] the feeling that you can trust someone or something to be good, work well, or produce good resultsCOLLOCATIONS

COLLOCATIONS

lack of confidence have confidence in somebody/something have every/complete/absolute confidence in somebody/something lose (your) confidence in somebody/something gain/win somebody's confidence increase confidence (in somebody/something) inspire confidence (in somebody/something) (=make people have confidence) restore confidence (in somebody/something) (=bring back people's confidence) destroy/shatter (somebody's) confidence (in somebody/something) undermine (somebody's) confidence (in somebody/something) (=make someone have less confidence) public confidence business confidence (=when businesses think the economic situation is good) consumer confidence (=when ordinary people think the economic situation is good)

confidence in

Look up a word starting with D or S for samples of headword or sentence pronunciations on the LDOCE CD-ROM

Our first priority is to maintain the customer's confidence in our product.

The survey reveals a lack of confidence in the police.

She had complete confidence in the doctors.

Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the administration.

the school's campaign to win back the confidence of parents

The Bank immediately took action to restore confidence.

Miscarriages of justice undermined confidence in our legal system.

Public confidence in the government is at an all-time low.

an improvement in business confidence

belief in yourself

[uncountable] the belief that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully

confidence in

Minton is an outstanding boxer, with tremendous confidence in his own ability.

I didn't have any confidence in myself.

lack confidence/be lacking in confidence

She's a good student, but she lacks confidence.

Living on her own in a foreign country for a year gave her a lot of confidence.

confidence to do something

Good training will give a beginner the confidence to enjoy skiing.

gain (in)/lose confidence

You do lose confidence when you spend years and years at home with children.

somebody's confidence is growing/somebody is growing in confidence

I felt I was doing well and my confidence began to grow.

boost/increase etc somebody's confidence (=make someone feel more confident)

shake/damage etc somebody's confidence (=make someone feel less confident)

Julie's confidence was badly shaken by her car accident.

with confidence

Our goal is to prepare students to go into the business world with confidence.

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.

gain/win/earn somebody's confidence

if you gain someone's confidence, they begin to trust you:

The new director began to win the confidence of the villagers.

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.