Meanings
comparative more modestly · superlative most modestly
- In a modest manner; with humility.
The man bowed modestly and left the dinner table.
1 more example
An hour later, Trump and Starmer were gathered in the modestly named Donald J Trump Ballroom for the press conference proper.
2025 July 28, John Crace, “Sidekick Starmer can’t get a word in as The Donald dominates world’s most one-sided double act”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 30 Jul 2025Synonyms: chastely, humbly, meekly, becomingly, chastely, continently, correctly, decently
- To a small degree.
These new shuttlelike craft might modestly reduce the cost of getting to low earth orbit.
2013, Harry L. Shipman, Space 2000: Meeting the Challenge of a New Era, page 551 more example
One of several factors to his success this election was modestly boosting his support among men, a shift concentrated among younger voters, according to AP VoteCast, survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.
2024 November 30, Christine Fernando, “Emboldened ‘manosphere’ accelerates threats and demeaning language toward women after US election”, in Associated Press, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2024Synonyms: mildly, slightly, somewhat, a bit, a little, a little bit, a mite, a smidgen
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a modest manner; with humility.
adverbTo a small degree.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbwith modesty; in a modest manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Catalan modestament
- modestamentin a modest manner
Chinese Mandarin 謙虛地 /谦虚地, 審慎地 /审慎地
- 謙虛地 /谦虚地 (qiānxū de)in a modest manner
- 審慎地 /审慎地 (shěnshèn de)in a modest manner
- 謙恭地 /谦恭地 (qiāngōng de)in a modest manner
- 簡樸地 /简朴地 (jiǎnpǔ de)in a modest manner
- 端莊地 /端庄地 (duānzhuāng de)in a modest manner
- 適度地 /适度地 (shìdù de)in a modest manner
Dutch bescheiden
- bescheidenin a modest manner
Esperanto modeste
- modestein a modest manner
Finnish vaatimattomasti
- vaatimattomastiin a modest manner
French modestement
- modestementin a modest manner
Hindi सविनय
- सविनय (savinay)in a modest manner
Hungarian szerényen
- szerényenin a modest manner
Icelandic með kurt og pí
- með kurt og píin a modest manner
Italian modestamente
- modestamentein a modest manner
Latin modestē
- modestēin a modest manner
Portuguese modestamente
- modestamentein a modest manner
Russian скро́мно
- скро́мно (skrómno)in a modest manner
Spanish modestamente
- modestamentein a modest manner
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
modestly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/modestly
“modestly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/modestly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “modestly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/modestly.
Source: modestly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.