Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

“A Modest Proposal”

Cultural  

  1. (1729) An essay by Jonathan Swift, often called a masterpiece of irony. The full title is “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of the Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to Their Public.” Swift emphasizes the terrible poverty of eighteenth-century Ireland by ironically proposing that Irish parents earn money by selling their children as food.

Discover More

The phrase “a modest proposal” is often used ironically to introduce a major innovative suggestion.

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.

If you haven’t read “A Modest Proposal” since high school, look it up again and be astounded.

From Washington Post • Nov. 28, 2017

Probably not, since very little literature endures as well as “A Modest Proposal” has.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2014

“A Modest Proposal” is Swift’s breathtaking achievement in this genre.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2014

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.