self-effacing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Parton’s self-effacing jokes made her immense talent less threatening in an entertainment industry that often reserved the title of “genius songwriter” for men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
He liked comic books, Pop art, collage, landscape, the miniature worlds of Joseph Cornell boxes: virtually anything modest and surprising, even self-effacing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
So how did this seemingly quiet, retiring child and self-effacing bureaucrat turn into a president who so avidly embraced the limelight?
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Whatever his intention with this self-effacing and possibly insulting answer, Mr. Newsom seemed unschooled in the dialogue of politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
This is really hard for me, because I was programmed to be modest and self-effacing and, truthfully, pretty much invisible.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Vocabulary lists containing self-effacing
Flowers for Algernon
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"Curtis Aikens and the American Dream" and "Go For It!"
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All My Sons
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