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Glite Dictionary
to undermine confidence

to undermine confidence

4 6.0
To slowly make someone lose belief in their own ability
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : socavar la confianza
  • Profligate spending by Washington undermines the confidence needed to fuel expansion.
  • undermine self-confidence

Confidence is this thing that you have to maintain in in a business that is designed to undermine your confidence at all turn at every turn.

Examples

  • His harsh criticism was meant to undermine confidence in her abilities.

  • The high-profile criminal cases are classic situations that often tend to undermine confidence.

    Academic text (1995)

  • That means not enough to be more likely than not, but enough to undermine confidence in the verdict.

  • "Further extension of the payroll tax holiday would undermine confidence in Social Security and put at risk.

    Blog text (8)

  • Hence, its failure undermined confidence more than the fall of a bank with a less distinctive name.

    Academic text (2018)

  • When you have judges and lawyers deciding the results of elections, then that undermines confidence.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The crises of the 1980s have served to undermine confidence in almost all established approaches to development.

    Academic text (1990)

  • While the budget talks did undermine confidence last summer, the impact on spending was essentially nil.

    Blog text (25)

  • Sales velocity is fueled by confidence, and anything that undermines that confidence is destructive.

    Blog text (1)

  • "Giorgio had so undermined my confidence I couldn't be sure of anything.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

to scare
vsto undermine confidence
∞ 1.0

To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves

involves slow reduction of self-assurance rather than sudden fear
to intimidate
vsto undermine confidence
294 4.9

To frighten someone so they do what you want

is gradual weakening without threat or coercion
to demoralize
vsto undermine confidence
33 6.1

To make someone lose confidence or hope

is a gradual weakening of someone's self-assurance
to puncture
vsto undermine confidence
6 6.7

To make someone's pride, confidence, or reputation weaker

works slowly weakening self-trust over time
demoralizing
vsto undermine confidence
3 6.7

To make someone lose confidence or hope

is a steady reduction of trust in oneself over time

Antonyms

to encourage
∞ 2.3

Give someone support and confidence so they try or keep doing something

to bolster confidence
1 4.0

To make someone feel more sure of themselves

How Confident

to cast doubt
17 4.6
to undermine confidence
4 6.0
to shake
410 5.3
to plant a seed of doubt
  • Informal
1 5.9

Surface Forms

undermine infinitive
undermined past
undermined past participle
undermining present participle
undermines third person singular

Morphology

undermine + confidence

The verb 'undermine' already means to weaken or damage gradually and 'confidence' means self-assurance, so the phrase literally means to weaken someone's self-assurance; the overall sense is directly compositional from the two words. This is a regular verb + noun collocation (not idiomatic or highly metaphorical) and follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Undermine confidence comes from a simple picture: to undermine is to dig away the ground under a building so it loses support, and confidence is a person's belief in themselves. So, slowly digging away that support explains why the phrase means 'to weaken someone's belief in themselves'.