Modesty

Modesty and modest have two rather different meanings. The word is used as an antonym of boastfulness; a modest person does not draw attention to their own real or supposed accomplishments and desirable attributes. Terms related to "modesty" in this sense include "humility", "shyness", and "simplicity". A related usage is for some object or attribute that is, in fact, not very desirable; a "modest dwelling" would describe a hut, but not a palace.

The word is also used, more about women than men, to describe a mode of dress and deportment intended not to encourage the opposite sex; actual standards vary widely. Clothing should not reveal parts of the body that society of the time and place consider immodest. A modest woman would not behave so as to encourage the sexual attention of men. In some societies women must cover their bodies completely, viewing the world through a cloth grille, and may never talk to men who are not immediate family members; in others a fairly revealing but one-piece bathing costume is considered modest when other women wear bikinis. Modesty in dress and deportment is usually encouraged by peer pressure, although a few countries enforce rigid dress codes. In some countries, exposure of the body in breach of community standards of modesty is also considered to be public indecency, and public nudity is generally illegal in most of the world and regarded as indecent exposure. However, nudity is at times tolerated in some societies; for exampe, during a world naked bike ride, while a lone man attempting to walk naked from south to north Britain was repeatedly imprisoned.

Small children are widely not expected to be fully clothed in public until they are grown up. In semi-public contexts standards of modesty vary. Nudity may be acceptable in public single-sex changing rooms at swimming baths, for example, or for mass medical examination of men for military service. In private, standards again depend upon the circumstances. A person who would never disrobe in the presence of a physician of the opposite sex in a social context might unquestioningly do so for a medical examination; others might allow examination, but only by a person of the same sex.