modesty
Americannoun
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modesties
plural
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the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.
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regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
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simplicity; moderation.
noun
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the quality or condition of being modest
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(modifier) designed to prevent inadvertent exposure of part of the body
a modesty flap
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of modesty
From the Latin word modestia, dating back to 1525–35. See modest, -y 3
Explanation
Modesty is that shy feeling you get when someone brags about how great you are, or when you need to take off your shirt to go swimming and showing skin makes you squirm. If you blush, you’ve got some modesty. Modesty comes from the Latin modestus, which literally translates as “keeping due measure.” Knowing the correct measure of yourself is modesty, and when someone praises you too much, your modesty might kick in and make you want to tell them to be quiet. Modesty also means you keep things decent and not too outrageous, like wearing clothes that hide your skin, or painting your walls beige instead of covering them with glow-in-the-dark diamond wallpaper.
Vocabulary lists containing modesty
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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Beloved
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Purple Hibiscus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His proposed ballroom “represents another way this presidency has abandoned its imperative of projecting modesty, openness, and stability,” the architect and historian Neil Flanagan complained in the Atlantic this month.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
Kayleigh, who owns a children's fashion brand, said she understood having an extra layer of protection in swimwear for modesty purposes, but said this particular padded design was "not OK" for an eight-year-old girl.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
His approach relies in part on structural modesty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Despite McKellen’s apparent modesty about his film acting, he’s always had a tremendous presence on screen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
There was something immodest about her modesty: it announced itself.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
To make one costume seem like many, women are buying in vast quantities dickies, jabots, fichus, gilets, ruches, berthas, bibs, piccadillies, collets, modesties and ruffs.
From Time Magazine Archive
She is kind to him, but hypocritical, affecting scruples, modesties, pieties, a heart and conscience, attitudinising, blushing false blushes, weeping crocodile tears; she is cruel to us, but sincere.
From Grey Roses by Henry Harland
And this attraction affected her morally, producing in her modesties, reticencies of speech, even of thought, and prickings of unflattering self-criticism unknown to her heretofore.
From The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance by Lucas Malet
It seems that my 'doings' are 'indecent and unnecessary,' and my sermons are 'a violation of all the sanctities, all the modesties of existence.'
From The Christian A Story by Sir Hall Caine
There are modesties in religion as in morals,—inner shrines to be defended at any and all costs.
From The Quickening by E. M. Ashe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
