Modest \Mod"est\, a. [F. modeste, L. modestus, fr. modus
measure. See Mode.]
1. Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward,
bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than
pushing one's self forward; not obstructive; as, a modest
youth; a modest man.
[1913 Webster]
2. Observing the proprieties of the sex; not unwomanly in act
or bearing; free from undue familiarity, indecency, or
lewdness; decent in speech and demeanor; -- said of a
woman.
[1913 Webster]
Mrs. Ford, the honest woman, the modest wife.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The blushing beauties of a modest maid. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. Evincing modestly in the actor, author, or speaker; not
showing presumption; not excessive or extreme; moderate;
as, a modest request; modest joy.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Reserved; unobtrusive; diffident; bashful; coy; shy;
decent; becoming; chaste; virtuous.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
modest
adj 1: marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself;
"a modest apartment"; "too modest to wear his medals"
[ant: immodest]
2: not large but sufficient in size or amount; "a modest
salary"; "modest inflation"; "helped in my own small way"
[syn: small]
3: free from pomp or affectation; "comfortable but modest
cottages"; "a simple rectangular brick building"; "a
simple man with simple tastes"
4: not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance [ant:
immodest]
5: low or inferior in station or quality; "a humble cottage";
"a lowly parish priest"; "a modest man of the people";
"small beginnings" [syn: humble, low, lowly, small]
6: humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or
even cowed submissiveness; "meek and self-effacing" [syn:
meek, mild]
7: limited in size or scope; "a small business"; "a newspaper
with a modest circulation"; "small-scale plans"; "a
pocket-size country" [syn: minor, small, small-scale,
pocket-size, pocket-sized]
8: free from ostentation or pretension; "the restrained
elegance of the room" [syn: restrained, unostentatious]
WordNet (r) 2.0
221 Moby Thesaurus words for "modest":
Olympian, aloof, altruistic, backward, bashful, becoming,
betwixt and between, blank, boggling, budget, cheap, chilled,
chilly, clean, cold, committed, common, consecrated, constrained,
cool, coy, decent, decorous, dedicated, delicate, demeaning,
demure, demurring, detached, devoted, diffident, disadvantaged,
discreet, disinterested, distant, dry, dull, easy, economic,
economy, elegant, expressionless, fair, fair to middling, fairish,
faltering, forbidding, frigid, frosty, frugal, guarded, hesitant,
hesitating, homely, humble, humble-looking, humble-visaged,
humblest, icy, immaculate, impassive, impersonal, in the shade,
inaccessible, inconspicuous, indifferent, inexpensive, inferior,
infra dig, inglorious, innocuous, insipid, introverted, junior,
lackluster, least, less, lesser, limited, low, low-priced, lower,
lowest, lowliest, lowly, manageable, mean, mediocre, medium, meek,
middling, minor, moderate, namby-pamby, nice, nominal, of a kind,
of a sort, of sorts, offish, ordinary, passable, plain, poor,
priggish, prim, prissy, proper, prudish, pure, puritanical,
qualmish, reasonable, reluctant, remote, removed, repressed,
reserved, respectable, restrained, restricted, reticent, retiring,
sacrificing, scrupulous, second rank, second string, secondary,
seemly, self-abasing, self-abnegating, self-abnegatory,
self-conscious, self-denying, self-devoted, self-effacing,
self-forgetful, self-immolating, self-neglectful, self-neglecting,
self-renouncing, self-sacrificing, self-unconscious, selfless,
sensible, servile, shabby, shoddy, shrinking, shy, silent, simple,
small, so-so, spotless, squeamish, stainless, standoff,
standoffish, stickling, straitlaced, stuffy, sub, subaltern,
subdued, subject, subordinate, subservient, suppressed, teachable,
tedious, temperate, third rank, third string, timid, timorous,
token, tolerable, unacquisitive, unaffable, unambitious,
unapproachable, unaspiring, unassertive, unassuming, unassured,
unblemished, unboastful, uncongenial, undefiled, undemonstrative,
underprivileged, understated, undistinguished, unelaborate,
unembellished, unexaggerated, unexceptional, unexpansive,
unexpensive, ungenial, unimportant, unimposing, unobtrusive,
unornamented, unostentatious, unpossessive, unpresuming,
unpresumptuous, unpretending, unpretentious, unselfish,
unsparing of self, unsullied, vapid, vulgar, wishy-washy,
withdrawing, withdrawn, within means, worth the money
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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