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Synonyms

self-effacing

British  

adjective

  1. tending to make oneself, one's actions, etc, inconspicuous, esp because of humility or timidity; modest

"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-effacingly adverb

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 has a wide smile and an easygoing, self-effacing way about him.

From Los Angeles Times

When Harris acted the way that vice presidents normally do — subservient, self-effacing, careful never to poach the spotlight from the chief executive — it was seen as a failing.

From Los Angeles Times

He made Barack Obama look modest and self-effacing.

From The Wall Street Journal

In those days very few companies, least of all life and health insurers, would have dared to engage in self-effacing humor.

From The Wall Street Journal

Is it possible that today we are seeing a decisive erosion in popular tolerance of Biya's self-effacing version of semi-authoritarian rule?

From BBC

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.