modesty

American  

[mod-uh-stee] / ˈmɒd ə sti /

noun

• modesties
  plural

1. the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.

2. regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

3. simplicity; moderation.

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modesty British  

/ ˈmɒdɪstɪ /

noun

1. the quality or condition of being modest

2. (modifier) designed to prevent inadvertent exposure of part of the body

   a modesty flap

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overmodesty
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• modesties
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

modesty modesties

It combines sharp-eyed intelligence with genuine modesty and leavens clever opportunism with the recognition that all men are created equal, even if some are less equal in their instincts for getting paid.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Eschewing any pretense of modesty, he says the Kennedy decision was a dead letter.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

He’s not a filmmaker given to false modesty, but how long can you bask in that kind of adoration?

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 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

My protestations that it was a small sacrifice to part with something I had little use for were taken as modesty, another fine kingly quality.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

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

I hope they cannot blame us, we have usd them With that respect our modesties allowd.

From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen

You were sent for; and     there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties     have not craft enough to colour.

From The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

I'm so het up I can't set still, an' besides, mebbe we can get the story the way it really happened, from somebody who ain't bound an' gagged an' chloroformed by such unbecomin' modesties.

From The Spoilers by Rex Ellingwood Beach

This is no time for idle vanities," he said; "it's no time to indulge unreal modesties; and you have none of either if it were.

From The Shadow of a Crime A Cumbrian Romance by Sir Hall Caine

Related Words

• decency
• humility
• propriety
• purity
• reticence
• simplicity
• virtue