Did you know?
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. 2016The minister of foreign affairs drove up in a modest car and joined our conversation.
Michael Taussig, Vice, 22 June 2024
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. 1987Soft-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
Synonyms
Examples of modest in a Sentence
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.
Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
In the bond market, which has been the bigger focus for Wall Street recently, the moves were also more modest after the last month’s charge higher for yields.
—Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025
By that metric, many of the best-off teachers are in rural districts where salaries are relatively modest, but home prices are low.
—Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee, 8 Jan. 2025
After updating the light duty RAM 1500s in 2024, 2025 brings some notable upgrades to the heavy duty 2500, 3500, 4500 and 5500 models in pickup truck and chassis cab form factors
As with last year’s 1500 refresh, the visual updates to the HD models are all relatively modest.
—Sam Abuelsamid, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for modest 
Dictionary Entries Near modest
Cite this Entry
“Modest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modest. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
modest
adjective
Share