self-effacing.

Reluctant to draw attention to oneself or claim importance.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• self-effacing humor
• self-effacing manner

On the page

Her self-effacing humor diverted the praise toward the crew.

A self-effacing manner hid how much of the work he had done.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: Comparative more self-effacing; superlative most self-effacing where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.