Modesty Means Keeping to the Measure
Modesty is a moderate view of your own importance, and decency in dress or behaviour. The Latin root is measure.
Modesty is the habit of not overstating your own worth, and also propriety in dress and manner. The root explains the link: Latin *modus* means a measure or limit, so a modest person keeps within measure. The same *modus* gives *moderate*, *modify* and *mode*.
- A moderate estimate of oneself. *False modesty.*
- Decency in dress or behaviour. *Dress with modesty.*
- Moderate size or amount. *A house of some modesty.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | modesty | Genuine modesty. |
| Adjective | modest | A modest success. |
| Adverb | modestly | He spoke modestly. |
| Opposite | immodesty | Charged with immodesty. |
| Related | moderate | A moderate view. |
How it is used in a sentence
- With characteristic modesty, he credited the team.The personal quality.
- They live on a modest income.Modest as moderate, not small.
- That is false modesty and everyone knows it.Pretending to be less able than you are.
The measure family
- Modest — within measure
- Moderate — kept within limits
- Modify — change the measure of something
- Mode — a manner or way
- Modern — from *modo*, just now, the current measure of time
From Latin *modestia*, from *modestus*, keeping within measure, from *modus*, measure. The clothing sense is a later specialisation of the same idea.
Modest or humble?
Modesty is about not overstating yourself. Humility goes further and involves a genuinely low estimate of your own importance.
Does *modest* mean small?
Not quite. It means moderate. A modest sum is unremarkable rather than tiny, though the words often overlap.