Modest

How to spell modest

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce modest

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does modest mean?

1. adjectiveUnassuming about one's own abilities or achievements.
2. adjectiveLimited or moderate in amount, size, or value, not large or extravagant.

Modest in a sentence

• Despite winning the award, she stayed remarkably modest about her work.

• They bought a modest family home on the edge of town.

• He gave a modest account of his role in saving the project.

• The pay rise was modest but still welcome.

Where does modest come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin modestus, meaning 'keeping within proper measure', and so 'moderate, restrained, well behaved'. That adjective was built on modus, the Latin noun for a 'measure', 'limit', or 'manner', the same root that gives us 'mode', 'moderate', and 'modify'. The underlying idea is staying within sensible bounds rather than overreaching, whether in behaviour, claims, or quantity. English borrowed the word in the middle of the 1500s, taking it through French modeste, and it quickly carried both the sense of being humble about oneself and the sense of being limited or unpretentious in size. Remembering that the heart of the word is the measure-word modus helps fix the single 'd' and the plain -est ending.

How the word is built

• mod (measure, from Latin modus)
• -est (adjective suffix from Latin -estus)