What's the difference between modesty and reticence?

Modesty


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality or state of being modest; that lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one's own worth and importance; absence of self-assertion, arrogance, and presumption; humility respecting one's own merit.
  • (n.) Natural delicacy or shame regarding personal charms and the sexual relation; purity of thought and manners; due regard for propriety in speech or action.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "It is not a likeable work," ran one unfavourable review, "containing little humour or tenderness or modesty.
  • (2) Clearly recovered from her attack of British modesty, she jumps out of an SUV in denim shorts and a crop top, her voice almost completely lost.
  • (3) Against all the odds, he almost single-handedly rescued hundreds of children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazis – an enduring example of the difference that good people can make even in the darkest of times.” “Because of his modesty, this astonishing contribution only came to light many years later.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sir Nicholas Winton meeting some of the (now grown up) children he helped save.
  • (4) This was a galaxy-spanning utopia whose name was chosen for its self-deprecating modesty, rather than something grandiose like the Federation or the Empire.
  • (5) Principal component analysis was used to identify five clothing dimensions (experimentation, self-enhancement, conformity, economics and practicality, and modesty), two body satisfaction dimensions (face and extremities, midsection and weight), and two eating dimensions (drive for thinness and binging).
  • (6) Whatever veiled women say about modesty, tradition or feeling closer to God, we in the £5-aspirant group worry that they are oppressed: that it is about being hidden and silenced.
  • (7) "The gentleman, opening the circular, hinged portcullis on the front of his helmet, offered his services; and perceiving that her modesty declined what her situation rendered necessary, took her up in his arms without further delay and carried her down the hill."
  • (8) And when you see Portman naked and leaning in profile on a dresser, she's posed deliberately, artfully, bony elbows protecting her modesty.
  • (9) Their letter, written in terms of false modesty, almost as if their aim was to protect Mr Brown, not destroy him, lacked any ideological substance.
  • (10) Interviews were conducted with 85 Puerto-Rican-born women encountered in one urban community in the United States concerning their obstetrical and gynecological preventive health participation, modesty pattern, and feelings of being male dominated.
  • (11) Mention of it brings on another attack of modesty – "No matter how bad a music video, the song remains intact" – but his videos are weird and intriguing.
  • (12) New York Times editors don't do modesty, Abramson no exception.
  • (13) His modesty showed when he declined an invitation to attend the ceremonies marking the 1994 signing of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty.
  • (14) Those sentiments had been echoed in the seemingly very different context of Qom, the centre of Shia religious studies, where most women move about in full-length black cloaks – the chadors that are the ultimate expression of Shia modesty.
  • (15) But the modesty isn’t the problem, it’s the listening.
  • (16) It received 80,000 responses and delivered a landmark 630-page report in 29 days, calling for the law concerning sexual violence to be modernised, removing terms such as “intent to outrage her modesty”.
  • (17) When I take Viagra, it stands up.” B: “My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.” On modesty A: “I do not have brilliance, wit or smartness.
  • (18) In a small side room at the Guardian, with Al Pacino glowering from a poster above us, James Corden is performing a masterclass in modesty.
  • (19) Prestige was regained by workers, who originally were thought to have lost their honor by violating the cultural patterns of seclusion and modesty.
  • (20) We conjecture that for highly religious women modernising factors raise the risk and temptation in women’s environments that imperil their reputation for modesty: veiling would then be a strategic response, a form either of commitment to prevent the breach of religious norms or of signalling women’s piety to their communities.

Reticence


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality or state of being reticent, or keeping silence; the state of holding one's tonque; refraining to speak of that which is suggested; uncommunicativeness.
  • (n.) A figure by which a person really speaks of a thing while he makes a show as if he would say nothingon the subject.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The simple answer: absolutely no.” The reticence of others to publicly support her had been disheartening at times.
  • (2) And as for his much-feted reticence and unwillingness to be made into a 'personality' himself well, you'd have to say that was the icing on the cake.
  • (3) San Dhillon, the executive director at Exane BNP Paribas, saidBT has been “reticent and hesitant” to offer remedies that would truly make Openreach independent.
  • (4) He developed a parallel career as a rock video director after mentioning in a meeting with record label and film company Warp that he loved the Arctic Monkeys, and ended up directing a string of videos for them (given the band's legendary reticence, the mind boggles at what the initial meeting was like) as well as Vampire Weekend , Kasabian and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs .
  • (5) I want this to happen in a consensual, sensible, non-inflammatory way and that's why I've been so reticent about it."
  • (6) The famously reticent Tartt has not given an interview about herself or her writing for a decade.
  • (7) Ophthalmologists have shown some reticence to having the entire bony support of the medial wall of the orbit and half the floor removed.
  • (8) I’m not talking about a reticence that would be linked to a physical problem, I’m talking about the heart that’s not quite in it anymore.
  • (9) I’m still not sure we were right to take it off.” The British have always been less comfortable accepting labels than the Americans but there’s much more to Benner’s reticence and Thompson’s unease around the term than that.
  • (10) Le Pen’s campaign, which begins in earnest in February, will depend heavily on Philippot’s claim that he can neutralise hostility and win over reticent parts of the electorate.
  • (11) My colleague is still very reticent at attending the very international conferences she should be going to in order to become a successful academic.
  • (12) There is unlikely to be such reticence from the Football Association towards the Goodison club after numerous objects were thrown at Suárez in the closing minutes.
  • (13) Shelvey’s only previous cap came in October 2012 against San Marino, as a 66th-minute substitute, and he has spent long periods out of contention, not helped by his apparent attitude when he was playing for England’s Under-21s and, according to Hodgson, the midfielder was reticent to be involved with Gareth Southgate’s team.
  • (14) Owing to the breakdown of the Libyan state and reticence from the Tunisian government they sometimes go undocumented.
  • (15) The Retics, NRBC and other red blood cell indices do not differ from those of neonates reported from other parts of the world.
  • (16) The evidence suggests that more timely, targeted training around the culture of knowledge brokering in the formative years could help to overcome this reticence.
  • (17) People who have invested more in Hillary’s campaign are understandably reluctant to defect, if you will, before there’s something to defect to.” He added: “I would say there is a big shift.” The reticence of such donors to speak publicly, let alone switch their money yet, speaks to the nervousness of these next few days for the Draft Biden movement, particularly as Tuesday’s first Democratic debate is likely to come and go without their candidate on the stage.
  • (18) If she’d turned over the records it would have put an end to it pretty early.” Clinton’s hankering for privacy should not be confused with reticence.
  • (19) These results suggest that the problems of faulty memory and conceptual confusion about serious events can be overcome with careful question wording and administration procedures, but that the problem of respondent reticence about reporting sensitive events remains unresolved.
  • (20) Unless a concrete reason was present, Danish medical students were very reticent concerning discussion of the injurious effects of smoking with patients.