He did not look like a diffident man.

And this man, handsome and diffident, had eyes that called to her.

A diffident man with a heavy gray beard, he once - not so long ago - had a flourishing career.

He was a charming but somewhat diffident young man who had introduced himself during another meeting weeks ago.

He was a diffident man about such things, but on this occasion his heart was in his task.

A diffident, unassuming man, he nevertheless is often playful.

And those sensations seem to have been especially acute in his case, considering he became, at once, such a diffident and explosive man.

At 47, the artist is a wiry, diffident man who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs, by his own description, "11 stone" - about 155 pounds.

They looked up, to see him standing just within the light of their fire, a thin, diffident man with a pleasant expression and shy eyes.

Over the years, Ed Stone has been a shy man, sometimes diffident, often detached, say some who have worked at his side.