Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922.

Class VI. Words Relating to the Sentient and Moral Powers
Section II. Personal Affections
5. Extrinsic Affections

881. Modesty.

   NOUN:MODESTY; humility [See Humility]; diffidence, timidity; retiring disposition; unobtrusiveness; bashfulness &c. adj.; mauvaise honte [F.]; blush, blushing; verecundity [obs.]; self-knowledge.
  reserve, constraint; demureness &c. adj.; “blushing honors” [Henry VIII].
  [COMPARISON] violet.
   VERB:BE MODEST &c. adj.; retire, reserve oneself; give way to; draw in one’s horns [See Humility]; hide one’s face.
  keep private, keep in the background, keep one’s distance; pursue the noiseless tenor of one’s way, “do good by stealth and blush to find it fame” [Pope], hide one’s light under a bushel; cast sheep’s eyes.
   ADJECTIVE:MODEST, diffident; humble [See Humility]; timid, timorous, bashful; shy, nervous, skittish, coy, sheepish, shamefaced, blushing, overmodest.
  unpretending, unpretentious; unobtrusive, unassuming, unostentatious, unboastful, unaspiring; poor in spirit; deprecative, deprecatory.
  reserved, constrained, demure.
  ABASHED, ashamed; out of countenance (humbled) [See Humility].
   ADVERB:MODESTLY &c. adj.; quietly, privately; without -ceremony, – beat of drum; sans façon [F.].
   QUOTATIONS:

1. Not stepping o’er the bounds of modesty.—Romeo and Juliet
2. Thy modesty’s a candle to thy merit.—Fielding