Positive character trait
Modest
Not boastful, excessive, or larger than needed.
3 ready sentences Updated Run by Adrian Nutiu
What it looks like
- Answers praise with a plain thank-you instead of a longer account of what they did.
- Mentions their own awards or qualifications only when they are relevant.
- Describes their part in a success accurately, without inflating it.
Fits when a person makes restrained claims about their own importance or achievement
Not when the achievement itself is small or the person is pressured to minimize it
How to say it
Replace the brackets with what the person actually did.
There is no resume line for this one: a resume exists to state achievements, and calling yourself modest on it works against itself. State what you did accurately, and let a reference describe the manner.
Fills [Name] in the reference and the report card comment, ready to copy.
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Reference or recommendation [Name] is modest about their own work: few people on [team] knew about [award or achievement] until [occasion], yet they explain their part clearly when it matters.
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Report card comment [Name] does very well in [subject] but never brags about it, and is pleased when classmates do well too.
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In a story, shown not told Her trophy stayed in the bottom drawer for a year. Her brother found it while he was looking for the tape.
She was modest about her role but clear about the team's achievement.
The definition and the sentences are written for this site; dictionaries are used to check the sense. How words are chosen and reviewed.