Dictionary

in all modesty en · ADP

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) Prepended to praise of oneself or one's own doings, as a form of modesty.
   • But at any rate, and on the principle that of two hypotheses, each in itself adequate, we should choose the simpler, I suggest in all modesty that we shall do better with our own than with Coleridge's, which has the further disadvantage of being scarcely amenable to positive evidence. 1916, Arthur Quiller-Couch, On the Art of Writing, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 78:
   • I speak in all modesty as I say this, but I discovered at that moment that I have a fierce will to live. 2000, Yann Martel, Life of Pi, page 197:
   • It seems to me, in all modesty, that you are well paired. 1934, Isak Dinesen, Seven Gothic Tales, page 134:
   • I think I may say, in all modesty, that I have done a rare thing. I have invented a new sensation. 1990, Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game, page 20:

Forms

Synonyms

though I say it who should not · not to brag · if I do say so myself

Translations (4)

fi kaikessa vaatimattomuudessaan ((prepended to praise of oneself)) · fr en toute modestie ((prepended to praise of oneself)) · pl z całą skromnością ((prepended to praise of oneself)) · pt modéstia à parte ((prepended to praise of oneself))