Meanings
plural false modesties
- countableuncountableBehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering.
Although having a large ego is considered undesirable, at times it is proper to take credit where it is due rather than display false modesty.
1 more example
At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
Translations
Catalan falsa modèstia
- falsa modèstiabehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Chinese Mandarin 故作謙虛 /故作谦虚
- 故作謙虛 /故作谦虚 (gùzuò qiānxū)behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Dutch valse bescheidenheid
- valse bescheidenheidbehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Finnish teennäinen vaatimattomuus
- teennäinen vaatimattomuusbehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
French fausse modestie
- fausse modestiebehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
German falsche Bescheidenheit
- falsche Bescheidenheitbehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Hungarian álszerénység
- álszerénységbehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Italian falsa modestia
- falsa modestiabehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Polish fałszywa skromność
- fałszywa skromnośćbehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Portuguese falsa modéstia
- falsa modéstiabehavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Russian ложная скромность
- ложная скромность (ložnaja skromnostʹ)behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering
Cite this entry
false modesty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20modesty
“false modesty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20modesty. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “false modesty,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20modesty.
Source: false modesty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.