Effacement
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of expunging, of wiping out; expungement. countable, uncountable
- 2 withdrawing into the background; making yourself inconspicuous wordnet
- 3 Withdrawal in order to make oneself inconspicuous; the making of oneself inconspicuous. countable, uncountable
"Native Americans seem to have always placed great value on silence and direct experience, and in indigenous cultures in general, silence denotes respect and self-effacement."
- 4 shortening of the uterine cervix and thinning of its walls as it is dilated during labor wordnet
- 5 A shortening, or thinning, of the cervix before or during early labour. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"Native Americans seem to have always placed great value on silence and direct experience, and in indigenous cultures in general, silence denotes respect and self-effacement."
Etymology
Borrowed from French effacement.
Related phrases
More for "effacement"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.