modesty

CEFRC1

/ˈmɒd.ə.sti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The quality of not talking proudly about one's abilities or achievements.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Moderate behaviour; reserve.

Examples

  • His modesty prevented him from making his feelings known to her.

  • Modesty is befitting to a young girl.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Pudency, avoidance of sexual explicitness.

  2. The quality of being modest; having a limited and not overly high opinion of oneself and one's abilities.

More examples

In context

  • His modesty is worth respecting.

  • At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Her blank was clear when she avoided talking about her own success.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from Middle French modestie, from Latin modestia; equivalent to modest + -y.