modicum
noun
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The Origins of Modicum Can Be Found in the Bathroom
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the English language has more than a modicum of words referring to a small amount of something—it has oodles, from smidgen to soupçon. But while modicum can be applied to countable or physical things (like words or salt) it is almost always applied instead to abstract concepts like respect, success, control, hope, dignity, or privacy. Modicum traces back to the Latin noun modus, meaning “measure,” which just so happens to be the ancestor of more than a modicum of English words, from moderate and modify to mold and commode.
Examples of modicum in a Sentence
Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 8 May 2025
His shows — Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place — have always received a modicum of Emmy attention.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2025
And as Washington’s relative power appeared to wane at the beginning of this century, some observers urged the United States to cooperate with Brazil, China, India, and Russia to provide a similar modicum of stability in an emerging post-hegemonic world.
—Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
There are several local issues that truly puzzle me and, in my view, lack even a modicum of sense.
—Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for modicum
Cite this Entry
“Modicum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modicum. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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modicum
noun
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