self-effacement

American  

[self-i-feys-muhnt, self-] / ˈsɛlf ɪˈfeɪs mənt, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. the act or fact of keeping oneself in the background, as in humility.

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self-effacement British  

noun

1. the act of making oneself, one's actions, etc, inconspicuous, esp because of humility or timidity

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Other Word Forms

• self-effacing adjective
• self-effacingly adverb
• self-effacingness noun

Etymology

Origin of self-effacement

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

The clean installation helps the viewer to “get” Samaras—his off-kilter intensity and odd self-effacement, in spite of all the focus on his own likeness.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Acting felt like the thing I could fake, because everybody else was so good at everything,” she said with typical self-effacement.

From New York Times

Modesty, wit, self-effacement: They shape every line of his work.

From Washington Post

While the spectacle of awards shows can be embarrassing, a cringe-making combo of self-congratulation and self-effacement, the hype always gets me in the end.

From New York Times

As the interview winds down, Sharpton calls himself, with an uncharacteristic mix of self-effacement and understatement, “some fat guy from Brooklyn who lost the weight and got some stuff done.”

From Washington Post