self-effacing

adjective

self-ef·fac·ing ˌself-i-ˈfā-siŋ

-e-

Synonyms of self-effacing next

: having or showing a tendency to make oneself modestly or shyly inconspicuous

His passions and faith run soul-deep, his gentle wit is always self-effacing and never insulting …—

Don Gaetz

… she was an extremely self-effacing, private person who never sought the limelight and did not leave the usual artifacts that enable a biographer to reconstruct life patterns.—

Douglas R. McManis

Examples of self-effacing in a Sentence

he's dating a sweet, self-effacing girl

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The actor-director, in typical self-effacing fashion, doesn't claim to have solved the problem of the Holocaust film in making one himself. —

Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024 Here, Rowlands plays Sarah Lawson, a self-effacing love addict with no sense of self beyond her relation to others. —

Emma Madden, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024 On the trail, this involves a delicate pairing of self-effacing anecdote and grand proclamation. —

Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024 Our self-effacing narrator is Victor (Mouret regular Vincent Macaigne), the schlubby, doting husband of high-school English teacher Joan (India Hair), who is beginning to feel stifled by his unwavering devotion. —

Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for self-effacing