Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget

retiring disposition; unobtrusiveness; bashfulness &c adj.; mauvaise honte [Fr.]; blush, blushing; verecundity†; self-knowledge. reserve, constraint; demureness &c adj.; blushing honors [Henry VIII]. V. be modest &c adj.; retire, reserve oneself; give way to; draw in one's horns &c 879; 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 a sheep's eye. Adj. modest, diffident; humble &c 879; timid, timorous, bashful; shy, nervous, skittish, coy, sheepish, shamefaced, blushing, overmodest. unpretending†, unpretentious; unobtrusive, unassuming, unostentatious, unboastful†, unaspiring; poor in spirit. out of countenance &c (humbled) 879. reserved, constrained, demure. Adv. humbly &c adj.; quietly, privately; without ceremony, without beat of drum; sans fa Phr. not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty [Romeo and Juliet]; thy modesty's a candle to thy merit [Fielding].