What's the difference between modest and optimistic?

Modest


Definition:

  • (a.) Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward, bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than pushing one's self forward; not obstructive; as, a modest youth; a modest man.
  • (a.) Observing the proprieties of the sex; not unwomanly in act or bearing; free from undue familiarity, indecency, or lewdness; decent in speech and demeanor; -- said of a woman.
  • (a.) Evincing modestly in the actor, author, or speaker; not showing presumption; not excessive or extreme; moderate; as, a modest request; modest joy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Incubation with IFN alpha or IFN gamma for 24 h resulted in only modest cytokinetic alterations, and they did not modify the effects of FUra.
  • (2) The active agents modestly improved treadmill exercise duration time until 1 mm ST segment depression (3%), and only propranolol and diltiazem had significant effects.
  • (3) Brown's model, which goes far further than those from any other senior Labour figure, and the modest new income tax powers for Holyrood devised when he was prime minister, edge the party much closer to the quasi-federal plans championed by the Liberal Democrats.
  • (4) The standard varies from modest to lavish – choose carefully and you could be staying in an antique-filled room with your host's paintings on the walls, and breakfasting on the veranda of a tropical garden.
  • (5) Bupropion, in contrast, had a modest effect only in CD-1 mice.
  • (6) These data support a modest role for alpha 1-adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction during exercise but fail to document an additional role for postsynaptic alpha 2-adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction during exercise.
  • (7) Alterations in mean systolic blood pressure appeared to be modest, consisting of a 10 percent decrease from the control level, related to sedation, and a 10 percent rise from baseline during the procedure, associated with a concomitant mild tachycardia.
  • (8) The patient made modest improvement with high-dose intravenous steroids.
  • (9) Modest reductions in renal function as measured by clearances of inulin and p-aminohippurate occurred acutely only in the patients with renal impairment.
  • (10) Although the debate in the US has led to some piecemeal reforms – including the USA Freedom Act and modest policy changes – many of the most intrusive government surveillance programs remain largely intact.
  • (11) Ultimately, both Geffen and Browne turned out to be correct: establishing the pattern for Zevon's career, the albums sold modestly but the critics loved them.
  • (12) Simultaneous metabolic studies of human normal fibrinogen and asialofibrinogen in rabbits revealed only a modest decrease in the half-life of the asialoprotein compared to the intact protein, with no preferential uptake of the asialo-derivative by the liver.
  • (13) Levels of involvement in the program were modest, with only 16% of those screened having over 10 clinical contacts and 24% still involved after 3 months.
  • (14) Testosterone and estrogen administration at low or modest doses to individuals with the capacity to produce GH causes GH production and IGF-I levels to increase.
  • (15) The more modest effect of (n-3) fatty acid supplementation in decreasing LTB4 generation was not due to blockade of the cyclooxygenase pathway.
  • (16) The effect of volume expansion on sodium, calcium and magnesium remaining in the proximal tubule was relatively modest and not affected by furosemide.
  • (17) On the other side of the Atlantic, a more modest, quieter challenger plans to take on the US electric car giant.
  • (18) In conclusion, a zipper technique has been outlined that allows effective continuing drainage of the septic abdomen, permits early diagnosis of organ damage, is rapid and cost effective, minimizes ventilator dependency and gastrointestinal complications, is well tolerated by the patients, and has produced a modest 65 per cent survival rate in the first 34 critically ill patients in whom it was used.
  • (19) In order to improve the modest oral activity of PGE2 as an inhibitor of gastric acid secretion, analogs were prepared and tested orally in histamine-challenged rats.
  • (20) Specific binding of insulin did not differ between control and modestly insulinopenic diabetics but was increased significantly in the severely insulinopenic diabetics.

Optimistic


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to optimism; tending, or conforming, to the opinion that all events are ordered for the best.
  • (a.) Hopeful; sanguine; as, an optimistic view.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Johnson and Campion are optimistic that marriage equality will win out, and soon.
  • (2) Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared Egypt's Nile Delta to be among the top three areas on the planet most vulnerable to a rise in sea levels, and even the most optimistic predictions of global temperature increase will still displace millions of Egyptians from one of the most densely populated regions on earth.
  • (3) Even under the most optimistic scenarios, shale gas is projected to meet just 10% of European gas demand by 2030.
  • (4) I have the optimist's world view of America as a tolerant place, where anyone can grow up to be the President.
  • (5) He says there are many optimistic tales to tell – migrant families, he says, are helping to drive up standards in local schools – but such stories tend to get lost in an online world that has precious little interest in them.
  • (6) All I wanted to know was that this was not a hereditary disease – partly, I suppose, because I was so young and carefree and optimistic.
  • (7) I was optimistic that I could leave behind my reputation as the nerdy one of my friends.
  • (8) The new Poles are generally optimistic and open-minded, believing their destiny to be in their own hands, that Poland shouldn't be prisoner to its past and that the future waxes bright for their country.
  • (9) The Bank of England has a record of being over-optimistic about Britain's prospects and in its latest assessment of the economy once again cut its growth forecast.
  • (10) Excessively optimistic judgements of driving competency and accident risk have often been implicated in the disproportionate involvement of young males in traffic crashes.
  • (11) I would urge her to follow the example of Elizabeth I, who, on appointing as her chief minister Sir William Cecil, said of him: “This opinion I have of you: that whatever you know my personal opinion to be, you will give me advice that is best for the realm.” Valerie Crews Beckenham, Kent • Another immensely qualified person loses their job for not being optimistic enough about Brexit.
  • (12) English speakers are the least optimistic about the chances of avoiding dangerous climate change Out of more than 6,000 self-selecting respondents, many expressed dismay at the slow pace of political action on climate change.
  • (13) Both brothers had been in optimistic mood earlier in the day.
  • (14) Arsène Wenger said he hopes the midfielder will return in four weeks and, “if all goes well, three”, but the estimate is believed to be optimistic.
  • (15) The optimists, not the least of whom are the British, believe that the summit is a starting point on which to build.
  • (16) "We'd have preferred that, in addition to these increases, we had seen our market share grow overall this quarter but we are optimistic that some of the sector's major rebranding campaigns and marketing initiatives will start taking effect in results this year."
  • (17) The most optimistic of them sees a fall by 2030, but this would require huge investments in renewable energy as well as financial and technical support from overseas.
  • (18) Jints fans, suddenly optimistic about their postseason chances, forgot how bad their team was over the fortnight - today they are being reminded.
  • (19) Reagan's youthful hero was FDR – another optimist, albeit a far steelier one –  who turned the federal government into the agent of recovery from the Great Depression and of victory in World War II.
  • (20) A recent National Audit Office study pinpointed these precisely: the DWP’s approach, it finds, is too rigid; its policy assumptions tend to be untested and over-optimistic; strategically, it fails to anticipate uncertainty (specifically, the possibility of failure); it neglects to monitor progress, so does not notice when things go wrong until far too late.