modestly
Americanadverb
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reflecting a moderate or humble estimate of one’s merits, importance, etc.; not boastfully.
He modestly puts all of his success down to timing.
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in a way that is free from showy extravagance; not ostentatiously.
For a billionaire, he lives rather modestly in a home he bought decades ago.
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in a way that shows regard for decency in behavior, speech, dress, etc..
When visiting religious sites, avoid offense by dressing modestly: cover your shoulders, torsos, and thighs.
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within reasonable limits; moderately.
A modestly priced economy car may be more appropriate for your teenage driver.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of modestly
Explanation
To do something modestly is to do it in a humble way, without showing off. After her play's successful opening night, a playwright might choose to sit modestly in the audience rather than going on stage to bow. When you act in an unpretentious way, you act modestly, and when you do something in the simplest way possible, you also do it modestly. The adjective modest can mean both "humble" and "small." Modesty and modest come from the Latin modestia, "sense of honor," or "correctness of conduct," from the root word modus, "measure or manner."
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.
They expect the Chinese memory maker to produce 350,000 wafers a month by the year-end, only modestly below Micron’s estimated 385,000 wafers a month.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
The news boosted oil futures prices, which had been modestly higher on Thursday after a string of losses in recent sessions and monthly losses approaching 20%.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 25, 2026
Canada’s economy shrank modestly in the first quarter, with GDP falling 0.1% in annualized terms following a 1% contraction in the final quarter of 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
Wall Street is holding on to 2.1% tally for the three months ending in June, modestly firmer than the 1.6% rate recorded over the first quarter but notably slower than last year’s 3.8% tally.
From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026
Still, the hardest code-breaking work remained hers, due to what she modestly termed her “greater experience.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
