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say it: MAH-duhst
modest is an adjective meaning "marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself". It is pronounced /ˈmɑdəst/ — MAH-duhst. It carries 7 recorded senses.
free from pomp or affectation
“comfortable but modest cottages”
“a simple rectangular brick building”
“a simple man with simple tastes”
not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance
“a modest neckline in her dress covered her up to her collarbone”
relatively moderate, limited, or small
“a small business”
“a newspaper with a modest circulation”
“small-scale plans”
“a pocket-size country”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for modest come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.