"semblance of confidence" is correct and usable in written English
You can use it to talk about a situation in which someone appears to be confident or is trying to act confident, but their behavior may not reflect true confidence. For example, "He gave a speech with a semblance of confidence, but his voice shook throughout."
As it is, Pakistan will do well to regain any semblance of confidence second time around.
A bank's backing would be intended to restore some semblance of confidence in the trading operations.
The sale of the Government's 80 per cent stake in RBS, a plan to sell off the rest of Lloyds Banking Group through a retail share sale next year, and the sale of the vestiges of Royal Mail all helped to restore a semblance of confidence in the banking sector.
The reaction of investors and financiers will determine whether a semblance of confidence has been restored on Wall Street or whether the financial turmoil is set to continue unabated.For background, see article JAPAN'S new prime minister, Taro Aso, could call a snap general election for November at some point in the coming week.
It had started to rebuild the fractured economy and establish some semblance of confidence.More than €50 billion ($70 billion) of bank debt has been restructured or written off, with the help of a $10 billion bail-out package from the IMF and Nordic countries.
Perhaps the saddest thing about it is that it was rather predictable, because England have lost all semblance of confidence with the bat.
Today in Kirkuk, a semblance of trust prevailed.
If any semblance of legitimacy and public confidence is to return, it may take decades.
Everton, bereft of confidence and any semblance of cohesion, deserved nothing against West Brom but came away with a drop of encouragement that had never seemed likely.
Flap went his midfielders and his strikers, devoid of confidence and any semblance of leadership.
Cool, then, is a projection of confidence in the midst of insecurity, and being cool brings some semblance of order to life for black males that they might not otherwise have.
