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

Etymology

Origin of self-effacement

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-effacement

“Bluesky apology forms” even began to circulate among lefties with a sense of humor and self-effacement.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

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 ● Feb. 25, 2026

“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 ● Apr. 24, 2023

Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, Sean Payton — each has an interesting self-effacement and a marked knack for creating loyal staffs.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2021

It is safer, you conclude, to choose self-effacement at this critical moment in your career.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker