How to Use self-effacing in a Sentence

self-effacing

adjective

• Bentley’s self-effacing jokes aside, the man knows his bluegrass.
  — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2023
• If ballet was all self-effacing torture, there would be no need to wrestle with it.
  — Madison Mainwaring, The New Republic, 19 Apr. 2023
• Yet a more self-effacing brand of charisma emerges over the course of the collection.
  — Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 22 June 2023
• Part of Benchakul’s feats have to do with his self-effacing earnestness.
  — Bill Addisonrestaurant Critic, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2023
• Rogers was being self-effacing.
  — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
• On the witness stand, Carroll was brash, funny, self-effacing and shrewd.
  — Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 2 May 2023
• In true KidSuper form, the book is self-effacing.
  — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025
• The self-effacing Kress downplayed the moment.
  — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026
• See more The sisters are funny and self-effacing in their delivery.
  — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
• The self-effacing Tunney wasn’t incognito to a lot of his students.
  — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2024
• The quarterback has a self-effacing sense of humor and a goofy giggle that rang out several times in his postgame news conference.
  — Matt Barrows, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
• On the trail, this involves a delicate pairing of self-effacing anecdote and grand proclamation.
  — Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
• The self-effacing girl, all of 15, was horrified at the prospect, fainted and was gleefully slapped awake by her mother.
  — Michael Farquhar, Washington Post, 13 May 2023
• Cher is a bracing read, peppered with caustic quips and self-effacing anecdotes, but fundamentally frank.
  — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2024
• With his self-effacing sense of humor and willingness to dive fully into any character, Paul was perfect for the part.
  — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 18 Nov. 2024
• Our friend the Corolla Cross gets 30 miles per gallon, a benchmark its self-effacing sedan forebears couldn’t meet just a decade ago.
  — Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2023
• That humbleness and aw-shucks demeanor would always remain a part of him and anybody who ever met him would be blown away by that self-effacing aspect of his character.
  — Steve Rosen, Variety, 10 Mar. 2023
• Pain banters a bit between songs, countering his bombshell performance with his usual self-effacing wisecracks.
  — Meaghan Garvey, Billboard, 2 May 2024
• There’s a zen, self-effacing quality to the way Lyman talks about it, combined with determination.
  — Byallie Garfinkle, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
• VanDerveer said in her typical self-effacing manner to start her first post-game interview Sunday.
  — Jeff Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2024
• No wonder, then, that voters cling to the fantasy of the self-effacing candidate—the kind who demonstrates his worthiness of the office by not wanting it at all.
  — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
• These days, however, the people of Turku are proudly tooting their own horn — at least as much as the naturally self-effacing Finns are able to.
  — Tom Vanderbilt, Travel + Leisure, 10 Mar. 2023
• Part self-effacing memoir, part how-to for writing screenplays, and a window into how the levers of power worked in Hollywood, this book is a stone-cold classic.
  — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
• Here, Rowlands plays Sarah Lawson, a self-effacing love addict with no sense of self beyond her relation to others.
  — Emma Madden, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
• The actor-director, in typical self-effacing fashion, doesn't claim to have solved the problem of the Holocaust film in making one himself.
  — Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024
• Recipe development can be a self-effacing task, obliging the writer to anticipate the appetites and routines of her imagined reader.
  — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
• In person, Galitzine is sweet, self-effacing, reasonably confiding.
  — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
• In execution, though, those sound principles produced a self-effacing Cartesian colossus — a massive hunk of boring.
  — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 22 Sep. 2025
• The upshot is that the self-effacing champion of the vernacular owes his career to one of Mexico’s richest families.
  — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 20 Apr. 2023
• Nevertheless, his athletic exploits and self-effacing demeanor send a message that goes beyond eye-popping dollar figures.
  — The Monitor’s Editorial Board, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Oct. 2025