self-effacement

noun

self-ef·​face·​ment ˌself-i-ˈfās-mənt 

-e-

plural self-effacements

: the placing or keeping of oneself in an inconspicuous role or position especially due to modesty or shyness

In his one-man show, satirist Robert Dubac takes aim at a culture that values the Kardashians more than character and ranks selfies over self-effacement.

—Judith Newmark

The polite self-effacement of his Midwestern upbringing came through …

—Jon Pareles

Examples of self-effacement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a hint of self-effacement in Campillo’s demotion of his own coming-of-age tale, an acknowledgement of the smallness of his memories relative to the island’s own seismic story of the time, even if the film never quite gives itself over to more radical ideas. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024

But in Britain, expressions of self-confidence are often interpreted as arrogance, while self-effacement comes off as endearing and down-to-earth. —Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 15 Feb. 2024

Her clasped hands cross her head, covering her face in a gesture of self-protection and self-effacement. —Farah Peterson, The Atlantic, 14 Dec. 2023

Unfortunately, the obvious lesson Providence wishes to teach us with Trump is that in our age, heroism begins in self-effacement and humility. —Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 13 Dec. 2023

However, Swift’s truly oddball smash may stand a nearly equal chance of prevailing, rewarding the song’s grandiose self-effacement. —Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2023

Glenn, the techie, is all stammers and self-effacement—until Troy, in the course of his own maturation, spots something deeper. —Dan Stahl, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1853, in the meaning defined above