Antonyms for modesty


Grammar : Noun
Spell : mod-uh-stee
Phonetic Transcription : ˈmɒd ə sti


Definition of modesty

Origin :
  • 1530s, "freedom from exaggeration, self-control," from Middle French modestie or directly from Latin modestia "moderation, sense of honor, correctness of conduct," from modestus "moderate, keeping measure, sober, gentle, temperate," from modus "measure, manner" (see mode (n.1)). Meaning "quality of having a moderate opinion of oneself" is from 1550s; that of "womanly propriety" is from 1560s.
  • La pudeur donne des plaisirs bien flatteurs à l'amant: elle lui fait sentir quelles lois l'on transgresse pour lui; (Modesty both pleases and flatters a lover, for it lays stress on the laws which are being transgressed for his sake.) [Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822]
  • noun shyness
Example sentences :
  • All shall be imputed to that modesty which has ever so much distinguished you.
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • There was a modesty in Bowser's tone that gave me a better opinion of him.
  • Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
  • She was quite honest, and she served her father's customers with modesty.
  • Extract from : « The Hunted Outlaw » by Anonymous
  • If you will force my modesty to the confession I believe in my heart that it is a sapphire.
  • Extract from : « The Incomplete Amorist » by E. Nesbit
  • She sobbed, and with a sudden feeling of modesty freed her wrists from his grasp.
  • Extract from : « The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete » by Emile Zola
  • And now, if you will light one of these cigars, we will talk of you for a while, if your modesty will stand it.
  • Extract from : « One Day's Courtship » by Robert Barr
  • But his modesty would not permit him to take part in such a demonstration.
  • Extract from : « Self-Help » by Samuel Smiles
  • So far as I could gather, his modesty was affronted by this revelation of his lower legs.
  • Extract from : « Ruggles of Red Gap » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • They were excited by the modesty, the circumspection, and the virtue of Imogen.
  • Extract from : « Imogen » by William Godwin
  • And there she stopped and shivered, for her modesty caught cold at the very thought.
  • Extract from : « Barnaby Rudge » by Charles Dickens

Synonyms for modesty

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019