Choose the Right Synonym for modest

shy, bashful, diffident, modest, coy mean not inclined to be forward. shy implies a timid reserve and a shrinking from familiarity or contact with others. shy with strangers bashful implies a frightened or hesitant shyness characteristic of childhood and adolescence. a bashful boy out on his first date diffident stresses a distrust of one's own ability or opinion that causes hesitation in acting or speaking. felt diffident about raising an objection modest suggests absence of undue confidence or conceit. modest about her success coy implies a pretended shyness. put off by her coy manner

chaste, pure, modest, decent mean free from all taint of what is lewd or salacious. chaste primarily implies a refraining from acts or even thoughts or desires that are not virginal or not sanctioned by marriage vows. they maintained chaste relations pure differs from chaste in implying innocence and absence of temptation rather than control of one's impulses and actions. the pure of heart modest and decent apply especially to deportment and dress as outward signs of inward chastity or purity. preferred more modest swimsuits decent people didn't go to such movies

Modest: Ever So Humble

When used to modify a sum or amount, or to mean "unpretentious," modest conveys a sense of not being excessive:

Captives received a modest salary of $0.80 per day, working at farms around Sonoma County picking apples, prunes, hops and other crops.
Janet Balicki, The Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat, 8 Dec. 2016

The minister of foreign affairs drove up in a modest car and joined our conversation.
Michael Taussig, Vice, 22 June 2016

The adjective humble is often used this way too, as when one speaks of "one's humble abode." Both words can be used in a humorous way that might be seen as self-deprecating.

Like humble, modest adequately describe one who does not boast about one's achievements, thereby avoiding a different kind of excessiveness:

Louisa May Alcott was always modest about her gifts; whatever early dreams of genius she might have nourished had been knocked out of her years before her literary fame arrived.
Barbara L. Packer, The New York Times Book Review, 25 Oct. 1987

Soft-spoken and modest in conversation, Knoll would be accomplished enough with his visual-effects credits in movies alone.
Julie Hinds, The Detroit Free Press, 11 Dec. 2016

Examples of modest in a Sentence

The foundry work was grueling, but for a little longer Brierfield afforded these African Americans a way station of modest freedom and a residue of authentic independence that was fast disappearing for most rural blacks. — Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008 … these remnants he lacked the will to discard, depressed him, deepening the low fever of depression in which even as modest a task as removing a blue doorknob loomed like a mountain almost impossible to climb. — John Updike, Harper's, October 2004 You're the hero, so then you have to behave in a certain way—there is a prescription for it. You have to be modest, you have to be forbearing, you have to be deferential, you have to be understanding. — Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997 They own a modest home near the beach. She enjoyed modest success with her singing career. He earns a modest income. We live on a modest budget. New cars are now available at relatively modest prices. He has only a modest amount of knowledge on the subject. It is a book of only modest importance. She's very modest about her achievements. Don't be so modest. Your performance was wonderful! “I'm not a hero. I was just doing my job,” he said in his characteristically modest way.

Recent Examples on the Web On Wednesday, television news crews gathered in front of the modest, one-story nursing home while cleaning crews in hazmat suits discreetly passed in and out through a back door where the strong scent of cleaning products wafted into an alley. — Dave Philipps, BostonGlobe.com, "The small Colorado town shrugged off the pandemic. Then came the coronavirus variant," 31 Dec. 2020 Borchardt, who taught physics and botany for 33 years at Minnesota State University, Mankato, has lived in his modest ranch home for nearly four decades. — John Reinan, Star Tribune, "Retired professor fights to keep his North Mankato yard natural," 12 Dec. 2020 The walls of this modest home are filled with mementos, testaments to experience, to memories, to a life lived. — Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ, "‘Total Control’ Review: A Struggle Down Under," 10 Dec. 2020 Someone broke in through the metal door from her beloved garden patio, the tiny patch of tranquility that kept her from moving from her modest cinder-block home to a safer location. — Washington Post, "A murder in Veracruz: Slain journalist’s story a portrait of a violent, corrupt era in Mexico," 6 Dec. 2020 Two of his seven children — Ian, 17, and Frank, 19 — along with his mother-in-law, Virginia Bautista, were killed when a landslide buried their modest wooden home. — Jason Gutierrez, New York Times, "‘Within Seconds Everything Was Gone’: Devastating Floods Submerge the Philippines," 18 Nov. 2020 The four Thompson brothers and their sister grew up in a modest home built by their father Jerome. — Wayne Drehs, National Geographic, "The Iroquois’ quest to compete in Olympic lacrosse: ‘It’s more than a game to us.’," 17 Nov. 2020 Steven Novak, an artist in Dallas, has festooned the front of his modest home with figures that appear to be badly mutilated murder victims, the Dallas Observer reports. — Tiffini Theisen, orlandosentinel.com, "Man’s Halloween decor so gruesome cops are called several times," 27 Oct. 2020 Her mother still lives in the same modest home where Quinn-Davidson was raised. — Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News, "Meet Austin Quinn-Davidson, Anchorage’s new acting mayor," 23 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'modest.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.