confidence

con|fi|dence [ `kanfıdəns ] noun ***

1. ) uncount the belief that you are able to do things well:

give someone confidence: Motherhood gave her confidence.

gain/lose confidence: The more he fails, the more he loses confidence in his abilities.

lack the confidence to do something: He would lack the confidence to find a job elsewhere.

confidence in: You should have more confidence in your own abilities.

have confidence: He's a nice boy, but he doesn't have much confidence.

2. ) uncount the belief that someone or something is good and that you can trust them:

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

have confidence: I have complete confidence in our chairman.

inspire confidence: As has already been suggested, their record does not inspire confidence.

lose confidence: Many businesses have lost confidence in the government's ability to handle the economy.

restore confidence: We must work to restore local confidence in the school.

3. ) uncount if you have confidence that something is true, you feel certain that it is true:

with confidence: I can say with confidence that all our targets have now been met.

have confidence in: I have complete confidence in these statistics.

confidence that: He expressed his confidence that the project would be a success.

4. ) count a secret that you tell someone

gain/get someone's confidence

to make someone feel that they can trust you

in confidence

if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them something secret or private and you trust them not to tell anyone else:

in strict/the strictest confidence: Any information given during the interview will be treated in the strictest confidence.

take someone into your confidence

to tell someone something secret or private