adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Not bragging or boasting about oneself or one's achievements; unpretentious, humble.
2. 2
   Small, moderate in size.

   "He earns a modest amount of money."

3. 3
   Pure and delicate from a sense of propriety.

   "modest thoughts or language"

4. 4
   Intending to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. especially

Adjective

1. 1
   relatively moderate, limited, or small wordnet
2. 2
   not large but sufficient in size or amount wordnet
3. 3
   not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance wordnet
4. 4
   marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself wordnet
5. 5
   free from pomp or affectation wordnet

Show 2 more definitions

6. 6
   humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness wordnet
7. 7
   low or inferior in station or quality wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

decenthumblemoderateunassumingunpretentiouschaste

Antonyms

All antonyms

proudBrobdingnagianDaniel LambertishPythonic

Example

More examples

"Generally speaking, Japanese women are modest."

Etymology

From Middle French modeste, from Latin modestus.

Related phrases

modest cadlinamodest proposalof modest means

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.