self-effacing
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Someone who's self-effacing is shy and likes to stay out of the spotlight, shunning attention and praise. To efface something is to erase it, so to be self-effacing is to try to remove yourself from various situations, especially ones that draw attention. If someone says you did a great job and you say, "It was nothing," that's self-effacing. It is usually considered a positive quality, since it's the opposite of being cocky, egotistical, and attention-hogging. The root of effacing is the Old French word esfacier, which means "to wipe out or destroy," literally "to remove the face."
Vocabulary lists containing self-effacing
Flowers for Algernon
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"Curtis Aikens and the American Dream" and "Go For It!"
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All My Sons
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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.
In the pilot, she is insecure and self-effacing; when a car almost runs her over, she apologizes to the driver.
From Salon • Dec. 15, 2025
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 • Nov. 12, 2025
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 • Oct. 29, 2025
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 • Oct. 27, 2025
John was followed shortly by two men about our age from Louisville—Jim and Chuck, both real nice fellows, self-effacing and funny.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
