modesty
/ˈmɒd.ə.sti/noun
modesty is spelled M-O-D-E-S-T-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, modesty means “The quality of being modest; having a limited and not overly high opinion of oneself and one's abilities” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of modesty is modesties.
How many letters and syllables are in modesty?
| Letters | 7: M-O-D-E-S-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is modesty?
Modesty appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce modesty?
- /ˈmɒd.ə.sti/
Modesty has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-modesty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of modesty
- modesties plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does modesty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being modest; having a limited and not overly high opinion of oneself and one's abilities.
- 2
Moderate behaviour; reserve.
- 3
Pudency, avoidance of sexual explicitness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Modesty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | modestie , pudeur |
| German | Bescheidenheit , Sittsamkeit |
| Portuguese | modéstia |
| Spanish | modestia , pudor |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does modesty come from?
Borrowed from Middle French modestie, from Latin modestia; equivalent to modest + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).