modest

English

Etymology

From Middle French modeste, from Latin modestus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdəst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒdəst

Adjective

modest (comparative more modest or modester, superlative most modest or modestest)

1. Not bragging or boasting about oneself or one's achievements; unpretentious, humble.

   Synonyms: demure, meek; see also Thesaurus:humble

   Antonyms: arrogant, immodest; see also Thesaurus:arrogant

2. Small, moderate in size.

   Synonyms: moderate, tiny; see also Thesaurus:intermediate, Thesaurus:small

   Antonyms: immodest, obscene; see also Thesaurus:large, Thesaurus:excessive

   He earns a modest amount of money.

   Her latest novel was a modest success.

3. Pure and delicate from a sense of propriety.

   Synonyms: chaste, demure, prudish, virginal

   Antonyms: immodest, obscene; see also Thesaurus:obscene

   modest thoughts or language

4. (especially of behavior or clothing) Intending to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others.

   Synonyms: austere, chaste; see also Thesaurus:unadorned

   Antonyms: provocative, sexy, sensual, flamboyant; see also Thesaurus:sexy, Thesaurus:gaudy

Derived terms

• hypermodest
• modest cadlina
• modestly
• modestness
• modest proposal
• of modest means
• overmodest
• pseudomodest
• supermodest
• ultramodest
• unmodest

Related terms

• modesty

Translations

not bragging or boasting about oneself or one's achievements

Arabic: مُتْوَاضِع (mutwāḍiʕ) Armenian: համեստ (hy) (hamest), պարկեշտ (hy) (parkešt) Azerbaijani: təvazökar, təvazölü Belarusian: скро́мны (skrómny), сці́плы (scíply) Bulgarian: скро́мен (bg) (skrómen) Catalan: modest (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 謙虛 / 谦虚 (zh) (qiānxū), 謙讓 / 谦让 (zh) (qiānràng), 謙遜 / 谦逊 (zh) (qiānxùn), 謙恭 / 谦恭 (zh) (qiāngōng), 虛心 / 虚心 (zh) (xūxīn) Czech: skromný (cs) Danish: beskeden Dutch: bescheiden (nl), ingetogen (nl) Esperanto: modesta (eo) Finnish: vaatimaton (fi) French: modeste (fr) Galician: modesto Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: bescheiden (de), maßvoll (de) Greek: ταπεινός (el) (tapeinós), μετριόφρων (el) (metriófron), σεμνός (el) (semnós) Ancient: αἰδήμων (aidḗmōn), αἰδοῖος (aidoîos) Haitian Creole: modès Hebrew: צָנוּעַ (tsanúa) Hindi: शालीन (hi) (śālīn), नम्र (hi) (namra), विनम्र (hi) m (vinamra) Hungarian: szerény (hu) Irish: náireach, náiriúil, adhnáireach, modhúil Italian: modesto (it) Japanese: 謙虚な (ja) (けんきょな, kenkyo na), 謙遜した (ja) (けんそんした, kenson shita) Korean: 겸손하다 (ko) (gyeomsonhada) Latin: modestus Latvian: pieticīgs Lithuanian: kuklus Macedonian: скромен (skromen) Maori: whakamōwai, pōrearea Old English: sċamfæst Plautdietsch: bescheiden Polish: skromny (pl) Portuguese: modesto (pt) Romanian: modest (ro) Russian: скро́мный (ru) (skrómnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: скро̏ман Roman: skrȍman (sh) Slovak: skromný Slovene: skromen (sl) Spanish: modesto (es), humilde (es) Swedish: blygsam (sv) Thai: ถ่อมตัว (th) (tɔ̀m-dtuua) Turkish: kalender (tr), alçak gönüllü (tr), mütevazı (tr) Ukrainian: скро́мний (skrómnyj) Vietnamese: khiêm tốn (vi) Yiddish: באַשיידן (basheydn)

small

Armenian: համեստ (hy) (hamest) Catalan: modest (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 小的 (xiǎo de), 數量不大的 / 数量不大的 (shùliàng bùdà de), 少量的 (shǎoliàng de), 略微的 (lüèwēi de), 樸素的 / 朴素的 (pǔsù de) Danish: beskeden, moderat (da) Dutch: bescheiden (nl) Esperanto: modesta (eo) Finnish: vaatimaton (fi) French: modeste (fr) Galician: modesto German: bescheiden (de), klein (de), gering (de), moderat (de) Greek: ταπεινός (el) (tapeinós) Hindi: साधारण (hi) (sādhāraṇ) Italian: modesto (it), irrisorio (it), esiguo (it) Japanese: 適度 (ja) (てきど, tekido) Latin: modestus Polish: skromny (pl), niewielki (pl) Portuguese: modesto (pt) Russian: скро́мный (ru) (skrómnyj) Spanish: pequeño (es), modesto (es), moderado (es), módico (es) Swedish: liten (sv) Turkish: naçiz (tr), naçizane (tr), mütevazı (tr) Yiddish: באַשיידן (basheydn)

intending to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others

Arabic: مُحْتَشِم (muḥtašim) Armenian: համեստ (hy) (hamest) Bulgarian: сдържан (bg) (sdǎržan) Catalan: modest (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 端莊的 / 端庄的 (duānzhuāng de), 適度的 / 适度的 (shìdù de) Danish: blufærdig, anstændig, sømmelig, ærbar Dutch: kuis (nl), fatsoenlijk (nl), eerbaar (nl), ingetogen (nl), zedig (nl) Finnish: siveä (fi) German: anständig (de), sittsam (de) Greek: σεμνός (el) (semnós) Irish: modhúil Portuguese: recatado (pt), decente (pt) Russian: благопристо́йный (ru) (blagopristójnyj), скро́мный (ru) (skrómnyj) Spanish: decente (es), pudoroso (es), púdico (es) Yiddish: צניעותדיק (tsniesdik)

Anagrams

• domets

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔdɛst/

Adjective

modést (feminine modeste)

1. modest

Derived terms

• modesti

Further reading

• “modest”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎, 1980

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin modestus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈðest]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [moˈðest]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

modest (feminine modesta, masculine plural modests or modestos, feminine plural modestes)

1. modest

   Antonym: immodest

Derived terms

• modestament

Related terms

• immodest
• modèstia

Further reading

• “modest”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “modest”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “modest” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “modest” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin modestus or French modeste or Italian modesto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈdest/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

modest m or n (feminine singular modestă, masculine plural modești, feminine/neuter plural modeste)

1. modest

Declension

Declension of modest

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	modest		modestă		modești	modeste
	definite	modestul		modesta		modeștii	modestele
genitive- dative	indefinite	modest		modeste		modești	modeste
	definite	modestului		modestei		modeștilor	modestelor