self-deprecating

American

[self-dep-ri-key-ting, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈdɛp rɪˌkeɪ tɪŋ, ˌsɛlf- /

Also self-deprecatory

adjective

belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.

self-deprecating British

adjective

having a tendency to disparage oneself

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

self-deprecatingly adverb
self-deprecation noun

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.

He is either self-deprecating or painfully honest about his capabilities right now, or perhaps a little of both.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026

Back then, debate over Geriatric Millennials sparked self-deprecating jokes, think pieces and quizzes dictating if you're meant to pile on the ribbing or be subjected to it.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2026

There he speaks with self-deprecating humor about the shame of having been born in working-class Brooklyn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Paltzik, his lawyer, raised doubts about the authenticity of the texts but said “even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor.”

From Salon • Nov. 19, 2025

A year or so earlier, in an unwarrantably self-deprecating paragraph of a letter to her brother Buddy, she had referred to her own figure as “irreproachably Americanese.”

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023