noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
anger/confidence/tension/hope etc drains away
▪ Sally felt her anger drain away.
betray...confidence (=tell a secret that someone has trusted me with)
▪ I would never betray a confidence.
boost sb’s confidence/morale/ego
▪ The win boosted the team’s confidence.
brimming with confidence
▪ He seemed to be brimming with confidence.
confidence trick
confidence tricksterBritish English
▪ a slick, fast-talking confidence trickster
consumer confidence
▪ Consumer confidence reached an all-time low in September.
destroy sb’s confidence
▪ When he failed his degree, it completely destroyed his confidence.
express confidence
▪ Throughout the trial, his legal team expressed confidence in the outcome.
gain confidence
▪ The managers were gaining confidence in their ability to take calculated risks.
given...confidence
▪ The course has given me a lot more confidence.
in strict confidence/in the strictest confidence (=kept completely secret)
▪ Any information you give will be treated in the strictest confidence.
in strict confidence/in the strictest confidence (=kept completely secret)
▪ Any information you give will be treated in the strictest confidence.
inspire confidence (=make people feel confident because they trust your ability)
▪ His driving hardly inspires confidence.
▪ The hospital’s record does not inspire confidence.
instil confidence/fear/discipline etc into sb
▪ A manager’s job is to instil determination into his players.
lacking in confidence
▪ He was lacking in confidence.
lose confidence/interest/hope etc
▪ The business community has lost confidence in the government.
▪ Carol lost interest in ballet in her teens.
▪ Try not to lose heart become sad and hopeless – there are plenty of other jobs.
loss of confidence
▪ her loss of confidence in herself
morale/confidence booster
▪ Mail from home is a big morale booster for faraway troops.
muster (up) the courage/confidence/energy etc to do sth
▪ Finally I mustered up the courage to ask her out.
new hope/confidence/optimism etc (=hope etc that you have only just started to feel)
▪ a medical breakthrough that offers new hope to cancer patients
passed...vote of no confidence
▪ On April 22 the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence in the government.
quiet confidence/satisfaction/desperation (=having a particular feeling but not talking about it)
▪ a woman whose life of quiet desperation threatens to overwhelm her
regain your confidence
▪ The players need help in regaining their confidence.
renewed interest/confidence/enthusiasm etc
▪ renewed concern about farming methods
restoring...confidence
▪ measures aimed at restoring public confidence in the education system
shatter sb’s confidence
▪ Public confidence has been shattered.
undermine sb’s confidence/authority/position/credibility etc
▪ The constant criticism was beginning to undermine her confidence.
vote of confidence
▪ On April 19 the new government won a vote of confidence by 339 votes to 207.
vote of no confidence
▪ On April 22 the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence in the government.
won...vote of confidence
▪ On April 19 the new government won a vote of confidence by 339 votes to 207.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
absolute
▪ Morrissey armed himself with a self made shield of absolute and utter confidence.
▪ I did not fret about the delay, because by now I had absolute confidence in the men I was working with.
▪ Dalgliesh knew that no politician would have talked with such freedom unless he had had absolute confidence in his listener's discretion.
▪ An absolute confidence that what was about to happen had to happen.
▪ The niceties gave way to steely-eyed focus and thrilling adventure built on absolute confidence.
complete
▪ There was an air of complete confidence about him.
▪ We held him in high esteem and placed complete confidence in him.
▪ She had complete confidence in the young nurse, although she found it very difficult to penetrate her reserve.
▪ A man he had complete confidence in.
▪ You can buy from him in complete confidence.
▪ I predict with complete confidence that the House of Lords will never be abolished for two reasons.
▪ And then, protected against the pitfalls of this curious patois, you can book your ticket to Tokyo in complete confidence.
▪ Your shareholders have complete confidence in you.
full
▪ The vision of Doreen, head erect, and full of confidence as she rode beside Silas, was all too clear.
▪ He was a superb pilot and liked and had full confidence in the Airster.
▪ And the worst part was, everyone else seemed to understand it and strode out to the quay full of knowledgeable confidence.
▪ He possesses plain good sense, and is in the full confidence of his Countrymen.
▪ Gloucester, by contrast, kept the king's full confidence.
▪ In the fresh light of day you are full of confidence and exultation as you prepare to fulfill your dream.
▪ With the prospect of supporting her grandfather she had somehow been full of confidence about the future.
▪ It is vital that the teaching profession has full confidence in the processes of career development and advancement.
great
▪ But now they've given us a great deal of confidence to be ourselves.
▪ I had one mood from 1976 through 1986, a mood of great confidence and great optimism.
▪ Some did walk on their own, but they had great confidence.
▪ And you will find yourself swinging between moods of great confidence to bleak despair.
▪ By clarifying in your own mind the exact nature of these positions you can enter into bargaining with much greater confidence.
▪ Research and literature being published now are based on these new techniques and provide us with greater confidence in research findings.
▪ He holed a very difficult putt with great confidence.
▪ However, there is great confidence in the dynamics of the free market to motivate and coordinate human behavior.
public
▪ Only by ensuring that safety and reliability were maintained could public confidence be restored.
▪ A lack of public confidence, Mathews said, has meant no new schools since 1974.
▪ The probe was aimed at restoring public confidence in the service, she said.
▪ As public confidence in his capacity to reign has plummeted, Charles' decline has dragged the monarchy down with him.
▪ Equally important, although in many ways distinct, was a perceptible decline in public confidence.
▪ Unfortunately, however, the inquiry did little for public confidence in the independent judicial monitor.
▪ It stated that the Government's intention was to increase court and public confidence in the effectiveness of community-based penalties.
▪ In doing this, public relations creates confidence in a company's management and its products, which builds credibility.
quiet
▪ Both princes drew strength from their uncle's quiet confidence.
▪ It seemed the kind of thing that would convey old breeding and quiet confidence.
▪ We face the future with quiet confidence and great determination.
▪ Nevertheless, as the team assembled in their headquarters, there was an air of quiet confidence.
▪ The Army had another reason for quiet confidence.
▪ Fernando de la Rua, the country's hapless president, is exuding quiet confidence.
▪ Mary's response to the crisis, and the apparent rudeness of her eldest is one of quiet confidence.
strict
▪ There is nothing magical or mystical about the process, and the results are shared in strictest confidence.
▪ Because the questionnaire was conducted in strict confidence some took this opportunity to express their thoughts.
▪ They are expert at handling situations like this in strict confidence.
▪ This is a strict professional confidence!
▪ Anything you tell me will be in strict confidence if it's got nothing to do with our enquiries.
▪ Anyone who can help should telephone, extension 3045 in strict confidence.
▪ The prisoners were assured that the findings would be held in the strictest confidence.
▪ Naturally I approached Bates in the strictest confidence, but all too quickly I learned that he is just a gin-sodden loud-mouth.
■ NOUN
business
▪ All told, business confidence should return next year.
▪ Consumer and business confidence are plunging.
▪ These fluctuations can be very damaging to business confidence and may discourage long-term investment.
▪ The forces at work, each in its own way, pummeled consumer and business confidence.
▪ The uncertainty of such stop-go policies arguably reduced business confidence and discouraged investment.
▪ Bradstreet survey released today showed business confidence slumped to its lowest level in more than three and a half years.
▪ The poll highlights the problems Labour would have in raising business confidence.
▪ And while the price of oil looked like a gusher, consumer and business confidence fell down the well.
consumer
▪ The trends in both retail sales and consumer confidence are positive, the report said.
▪ Some analysts cited shaky consumer confidence as a reason for the overall dismal sales.
▪ Mr Major has already discovered that repossessions and defaults cost the government money as well as damaging consumer confidence and financial institutions.
▪ The departure of health minister Andrea Fischer and farm minister Karl-Heinz Funke follows a collapse in consumer confidence.
▪ Investors were concerned that allegations of corruption against the ruling party would hurt consumer confidence and economic growth.
▪ The most useful economic indicator to watch is consumer confidence.
▪ With increased consumer confidence comes economic growth.
interval
▪ Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratio and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.
▪ Adjusted rate ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated for men and women separately by this method.
▪ The figure shows this estimated number of visits with 95% confidence intervals.
▪ Means and 95% confidence intervals are presented in text and figures.
investor
▪ It will take the dotcoms some time before they regain investor confidence.
no
▪ His concern was justified when the no confidence motion was defeated by only 447 votes to 412.
▪ Later on Nov. 23 the no confidence motion was defeated by 201 votes to 159, with six abstentions.
▪ The no confidence debate took place in a crowded Knesset on March 15.
▪ Three Foreign Ministry officials resigned but the government survived a no confidence vote on Jan. 31.
▪ Haughey dismissed two ministers before the no confidence vote.
vote
▪ No government can fail a confidence vote without suspicion that parties were bought by the opposition.
▪ On 15 April the government lost a confidence vote in parliament and Gaillard resigned.
▪ Three Foreign Ministry officials resigned but the government survived a no confidence vote on Jan. 31.
▪ If the government does lose the showdown, it seems likely that John Major will call a confidence vote 24 hours later.
▪ Parliament meets for the confidence vote on December 30.
▪ Haughey dismissed two ministers before the no confidence vote.
■ VERB
betray
▪ I can't tell you what Melanie was asking me because I don't betray other people's confidences.
boost
▪ He wasn't strong enough to boost his own confidence.
▪ With exports flagging, Thaksin wants to boost consumer confidence and spending.
▪ Go for a new hairstyle too boost your confidence.
▪ The cut in car tax and the increase in capital allowances will also help to boost confidence.
▪ I observed the rehabilitation process for people after myocardial infarction and discovered the importance of boosting personal confidence.
▪ What better to boost confidence ahead of the spring buying season.
▪ An early success can boost morale, give confidence.
▪ The government is betting this trend will boost business confidence, and thus investment and jobs.
build
▪ The unforced pace builds children's confidence and keeps their motivation strong.
▪ This year they have a chance to build some much-needed early confidence.
▪ The first step needed for building confidence is for the regime to release all political prisoners.
▪ Employees should be prepared for the change in order to reduce scepticism and to build their confidence. 5.
▪ However, the public row will do little to build confidence at Essendon.
▪ Major said holding local elections is the best immediate way to build confidence in the stalled peace process.
▪ It also argued for collective security arrangements as a means of building confidence and security in the region.
▪ As you expand the dialogue, without being intrusive, you begin to build his confidence in you.
destroy
▪ This is inherent in the nature of the charge, but the effect is to destroy confidence in its validity.
▪ From the beginning Jones worked to destroy his followers' confidence in any of the old authority figures in their lives.
▪ There were many cases of theft, misappropriation, and favouritism which tended to destroy confidence in officialdom in general.
▪ Lack of confidence can destroy it.
▪ To kick them is not only pointless, it destroys what confidence they have.
develop
▪ Secondly, the patient has time to develop confidence in staff members and other patients.
▪ By developing subordinates' confidence, the leader may instill a feeling of security.
▪ Classroom teaching is therefore important in helping the student to develop confidence and competence.
▪ Out of this new relationship, a child can often develop the warmth and confidence he or she needs.
▪ And if they don't, somehow or other you have to develop that confidence for yourself.
▪ But my newly developed confidence and self-assurance had yet to be tested.
▪ As a result I know I developed much more confidence in my ability and I've pushed my grades up.
▪ Not when the international squads are working together and developing confidence year round.
express
▪ This expresses the confidence and boldness of having said it all.
▪ Chuan and other party leaders expressed confidence that they would be forming a government soon.
▪ He and his Revolutionary Council expressed supreme confidence in their ability to stand up to the United States and its coalition partners.
▪ Once again, Chesapeake's players expressed confidence.
▪ Gunnarson expressed confidence in the financial controls the city has in place, including regular meetings with center staff.
gain
▪ Realizing this will gradually help you to gain confidence to go deeper and deeper into relaxation and experience full benefit from it.
▪ People have gained confidence in sending substantial sums off to unseen institutions and working with them long-distance.
▪ The following teacher's writing illustrates how his pupils have gained in confidence and initiative.
▪ Seeing this, finally suspecting, the auditor was able to gain her confidence and locate the despair charges.
▪ She will gain confidence in communication and management skills, and her own knowledge will be tested.
▪ One by one he gained the confidence of his followers.
▪ The role enables the researcher to gain the confidence of the group that accepts her in her false role.
▪ At 15, each had matured and gained confidence.
give
▪ The latter is chiefly intended to protect a healthy knee against injury and to give confidence to those with inherently weak joints.
▪ But I had some success in the first game and that gave me confidence I could play.
▪ He has given it continuity and confidence, matching perspiration with performance.
▪ That experience gave me confidence that I could handle the big time.
▪ Winning the John Moores would have given me just the confidence I needed.
▪ The places I've been and people I've met have given me the confidence to carry on.
▪ He encourages; he gives the child confidence in himself.
▪ He gives them confidence and compliments, both on and off the court.
grow
▪ Anyway, shut up over there, because the idea is to help men grow in confidence and esteem.
▪ In return, successful students continue to grow in confidence and competence.
▪ Middlesbrough were growing in confidence all the time, winning the midfield battle and occasionally opening the Ipswich defence.
▪ But as you grow in confidence, and experience, you will be able to realize your full potential.
▪ From a nervous start, she seemed to grow in confidence towards the end.
▪ The labor force expanded by 509, 000, a sign of growing confidence in the prospect of finding work.
▪ Now, after years of self-doubt, she was growing in confidence and beginning to shed the tensions of her formative years.
▪ It could be done: gradually, in the second half of the six months, he grew in confidence.
help
▪ Anyway, shut up over there, because the idea is to help men grow in confidence and esteem.
▪ He gave me tough assignments from the start-showed confidence in me, which helped me have confidence in myself.
▪ Discussing how to do this and preparing plans for alternative comforting will help her gain confidence and anticipation of the problems.
▪ To help me recover my confidence?
▪ The cut in car tax and the increase in capital allowances will also help to boost confidence.
▪ Streamline Graded Readers encourage students in their language learning and help them to gain confidence in their ability.
▪ Our comprehensive course will help you buy with confidence and increase your enjoyment of different wines.
▪ A course on speaking out for women is designed to help develop confidence to speak at meetings.
increase
▪ A course can increase confidence, career prospects or simply be enjoyable - all of which will never be regretted.
▪ These don't have to be permanent measures, just gentle ways of gradually increasing individual confidence.
▪ Multicultural and anti-racism training will also increase confidence in the police among minority ethnic communities.
▪ This, in turn, increases oral confidence.
▪ Comparative analysis can then increase our confidence regarding what we know about the political world.
inspire
▪ This will do more to inspire public confidence than the prison officers' negative attitude.
▪ My boy, the first and foremost work of a doctor is to inspire confidence in his being one.
▪ A test ban that could not inspire confidence would undermine stability and might even provoke a new arms race.
▪ Her strength was her ability to elicit and inspire confidences rather than fear in the people she befriended.
▪ Lukic hardly inspires confidence either in such situations.
▪ Yet he has a train of attendants on the battlefield which should inspire anyone with confidence.
▪ What impressed most was how useable this near 30-year-old car feels, and how quickly it inspires confidence.
▪ In short, he inspires confidence.
lack
▪ They may lack the confidence, the self-esteem, to venture into libraries.
▪ But he does not lack confidence or sense of manifest Elvis destiny.
▪ Maybe I lacked confidence - I didn't consider I possessed the degree of presence you need as the vital link-man.
▪ But because men lack the experience and confidence, infant care training can help.
▪ They lacked confidence in their own values.
▪ But Pataki does not appear to lack confidence that he can create yet another success that other states would wish to emulate.
▪ We all worry about what other people think of us and being shy doesn't automatically mean we lack confidence.
▪ Yet the parents knew their children lacked confidence.
lose
▪ Meanwhile, prison conditions have deteriorated and the public has lost confidence in the criminal justice system.
▪ He was beginning to believe the coaches had lost confidence in him.
▪ I was beginning to lose confidence when suddenly I saw a small lane on the right.
▪ Employees themselves are losing confidence in the company, analysts said.
▪ It only takes a couple of players to have mediocre starts for them and they will be down there and lose confidence.
▪ Even this great cathedral will become a museum and mausoleum the day we lose our confidence in the resurrection.
▪ He couldn't draw properly, he lost confidence and floundered horribly.
▪ It just fell apart once they had lost confidence in him.
regain
▪ Perhaps, if he stays, he will never regain the confidence of the City.
▪ This program enables patients to regain the confidence that they have lost in their ability to sleep.
▪ It will take the dotcoms some time before they regain investor confidence.
▪ When investors looked more calmly during the weekend at what he actually said, they regained some of their confidence.
▪ It was a long time after that before I regained my confidence.
▪ Smith, on the other hand, was isolated in a country just beginning to regain its mathematical confidence.
▪ He took 6 months to regain his confidence that we weren't going to hit him.
▪ The ERCs provide short courses for men and women who need help in regaining their confidence and fitness for work.
restore
▪ The probe was aimed at restoring public confidence in the service, she said.
▪ Clinton offered no new measures to restore confidence in globalization and open trade.
▪ However an attempt was made to restore confidence in it by what is now section 184.
▪ Hearing him in action restores her confidence in his abilities.
▪ The Silver Sabre has restored my confidence and I consider it to be one of the best machines that I have used.
▪ He took over after the disastrous administration of Manoj Vyas and restored confidence in county government and stability to county employment.
▪ The various plans failed to restore the confidence of either foreign banks or foreign investors.
▪ This last item did much to restore the confidence that seemed to have deserted me in the previous few months.
shake
▪ Such an examination could shake some of the confidence that built in 1995.
share
▪ There is nothing magical or mystical about the process, and the results are shared in strictest confidence.
▪ It is a shame that some of the gloom and doom-mongers in this country do not share that confidence.
▪ See our useful links below for confidence-boosting websites and share your confidence tricks online.
▪ I do not share the confidence of the right hon. and learned Member for Monklands, East in investment incentives.
▪ The two men share confidences, for they both have equal vested interests in the sport.
▪ If it is shared then trust and confidence will grow between the manager and his subordinate.
▪ Dougal wished he could share his confidence.
show
▪ Pity he hadn't shown such confidence before.
▪ It was great the coaches showed some confidence in me.
▪ Each demonstration this week has shown an increase in confidence which it will now be very difficult to stop.
▪ Bradstreet survey released today showed business confidence slumped to its lowest level in more than three and a half years.
▪ This is a young team and it is really important for the coaches to show we have confidence in them.
▪ The use of the blackboard showed confidence.
▪ A report showing falling business confidence lifted hopes that slowing economic growth will prompt the Bundesbank to cut rates soon.
speak
▪ If they do suspect some one or know some one fitting the description, speak to us in confidence and we will investigate it.
▪ She speaks with the confidence of a woman who has worked hard to make a new life for herself.
▪ If anyone may speak with confidence, it is Mr Otsason.
▪ Outwardly calm, he masks his feelings behind a demeanor of indifference and spoken confidence.
▪ We speak with relative confidence about our own group.
▪ Morton, he realized, spoke with the confidence of the man who tapped the phones.
undermine
▪ Don't undermine the patient's confidence by accusing him of not trying when he can not fulfil a task.
▪ When we do this, we undermine the confidence and competence of our citizens and communities.
▪ She did not mean to be swayed by Cobalt's defence of Maurin, and yet he had undermined her confidence.
▪ Proof that fake Dalís are circulating and fears of further problems could continue to undermine confidence in this market.
▪ This may need to be supported by actual action likely to undermine public confidence in the exchange.
▪ Some were less overtly overbearing, but no less effective in undermining their colleagues' confidence.
▪ It would also be an offence to cause suspicion or undermine the confidence of the people.
▪ Overinvestigation or repeated testing without substantial indication undermines the patient's confidence in the doctor's conclusions.
win
▪ She was still trying to win the woman's confidence.
▪ No stormy preacher, President Witherspoon quietly won the confidence of his colleagues.
▪ His technique was to win women's confidence with his charm, and to offer them a spiked drink.
▪ Still, associating with our most crooked modern president is not a way to win public confidence, nor an election.
▪ But Annabelle/Steven won the woman's confidence.
▪ Nothing could make clearer the way in which Madame Phan had won his confidence.
▪ Graham knows his defender should be learning his trade by the occasional appearance in a winning team to breed confidence.
▪ He was trusted by Dorman-Smith and increasingly he won the confidence of Aung San.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
breach of confidence/trust
▪ He has insisted that to name them publicly would be a breach of confidence.
▪ No breach of confidence was alleged but there was said to be a contract not to publish before the report.
▪ Opinions were expressed openly and freely without any breach of confidence.
▪ She and the company's chairman, Weng You-ming, were being sued for breach of trust in the sale.
▪ Such a breach of confidence could rebound in all sorts of directions.
▪ There is no liability for breach of confidence if consent is obtained.
▪ They say any breach of trust has been offset by his attempts to set things right.
▪ You may prefer not to do so because of the risk of breach of confidence or discrimination.
crisis of confidence
▪ During the Middle Ages society suffered, as much as anything else, from an acute and prolonged crisis of confidence.
▪ It is a crisis of confidence and purpose.
▪ It was not just the veto which caused a crisis of confidence: every member had the right to blackball an applicant.
▪ Lack of up to date knowledge leading to a potential crisis of confidence.
▪ Ominously, however, this confidence-promoting institution is itself undergoing a crisis of confidence.
▪ Postmodernism's crisis is the crisis of confidence in the function of art and culture at the end of the twentieth century.
▪ The slightest crisis of confidence can threaten the survival of the banking system and the health of the whole economy.
▪ This talk about a crisis of confidence in the City is overdone.
crush sb's hopes/enthusiasm/confidence etc
put your faith/trust/confidence in sb/sth
▪ Can she put her faith in the people who oversaw her career before?
▪ Events that happen previously show us that Atticus is a person that we can put our trust in.
▪ He put his faith in the genius of individuals.
▪ None the less, geophysicists continue to look, continue to put their faith in ghosts of a sort.
▪ Others put their faith in camphor.
▪ She was putting her trust in the wrong people again.
▪ The Profitboss puts his trust in his people.
▪ The unfortunate crew of Tai Ki had put their faith in several coats of tung oil, to no effect.
shake sb's confidence/beliefs etc
worm your way into sb's affections/heart/confidence etc
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "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.
▪ I later learned there were some confidences Richard hadn't shared with me.
▪ I went into the test full of confidence, but it was more difficult than I had imagined.
▪ It's obviously very important to build up the consumer's confidence in our product.
▪ Opinion polls show that the voters have lost confidence in the administration.
▪ The agency works hard to increase public confidence so that people are not afraid to report racist incidents.
▪ The country's highly respected Finance Ministry is facing a crisis of confidence that will be difficult to reverse.
▪ The key thing about being a quarterback is that you have to show confidence and lead the team.
▪ The new president has the confidence and backing of all of the leaders of the surrounding states.
▪ You need patience and confidence to be a good teacher.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A professional golfer tries to pull off a confidence trick against his own body.
▪ An obligation of confidence can arise through contract, either express or implied.
▪ As a result I know I developed much more confidence in my ability and I've pushed my grades up.
▪ At the present uncertain stage in the economic cycle, the commodity most urgently lacking is confidence.
▪ She sensed his waiting for her confidence, but knew he would never pressure her into saying anything she would rather not.
▪ That confidence was echoed by Peter Scudamore when I spoke to him at Towcester yesterday.