self-effacing

British  

adjective

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

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Other Word Forms

• self-effacingly
  adverb

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-effacing

But threaded through the movie is another story, well-suited to the director’s dry and self-effacing sense of humor, of Hollywood producers interested in remaking “Sherman’s March” as a fiction feature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

The midfielder is the one that painfully got away from Newcastle United but is still revered and respected in his home city as the "quiet and self-effacing" local boy made good.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

After a lifetime of being pleasant, polite and self-effacing, trying to brag is like taking a final you haven’t studied for, given in a foreign language.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

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

With his pipe, genially self-effacing manner, and electrified hair, Einstein was too splendid a figure to remain permanently obscure, and in 1919, the war over, the world suddenly discovered him.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• coy
• discreet
• humble
• reticent
• unassuming
• unobtrusive
• unpretentious