Timeline for Is there a single word or phrase for "excessive humility disproportionate to ability or achievement"?
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| May 29, 2018 at 10:39 | comment | added | English Student | Thanks a lot for a comprehensive list @WS2. Many of those words are appropriate here. What surprised me was that most of those nouns (except modesty) would strike my audience as negative in implication when applied to their favorite doctor. What I like best: modesty, unpretentiousness and lack of pride. An even more suitable word in context that your list has reminded me of is selflessness as in "Dr.P was so selfless that he actually considered himself a mediocre physician, when in fact he was one of our greatest doctors of the 20th century." | |
| May 28, 2018 at 14:51 | comment | added | WS2 | Have you tried a thesaurus? Mine gave me this list. They are not synonyms. Each one carries its own particular sense. Take your pick. noun humbleness, modesty shyness abasement bashfulness demureness diffidence docility lowliness meekness mortification nonresistance obedience obsequiousness passiveness reserve resignation self-abasement self-abnegation servility sheepishness subjection submissiveness subservience timidity timorousness unobtrusiveness unpretentiousness fawning inferiority complex lack of pride | |
| May 28, 2018 at 14:40 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 12:43 | history | edited | English Student |
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| Apr 27, 2018 at 12:17 | comment | added | English Student | You are right of course, thanks @Janus Bahs Jacquet; may I only clarify that I had not edited in that anecdote about the award [which will appear in the actual article] at the time of JeffUK's comment. | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 12:08 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @JeffUK I disagree very much with that. If the doctor in question had accepted the award and mentioned how so much of his success as a doctor came down to fortuitous circumstances more than innate brilliance, that would be humility. Actually declining the award and saying he wasn’t a credit to the medical community is absolutely disproportionate. It’s not only humble, but self-abasing. Putting oneself down needlessly is not humility. | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 11:50 | comment | added | English Student | Edited Q to include anecdotal examples. If no appropriate substitute word is found I shall go with "too humble" @Tom22, as in "Dr.P was a medical giant and also a saint who thought himself just an unremarkable person; everyone thought that he was too humble. For example, he politely refused a prestigious award in 1960 saying that "a mediocre physician like me, etc." This has the added advantage that "too" is often used in Indian English as an intensifier like "very" and does not have negative connotations for the ordinary reader. | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 11:45 | history | edited | English Student | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 27, 2018 at 11:38 | history | edited | English Student | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 27, 2018 at 11:31 | comment | added | English Student | Thanks for the suggestions. "Impressed" is a very good option. I think a couple of anecdotes that will follow that paragraph in the article are needed for readers to understand how the doctor's humility was 'excessive' @Tom22. I will edit the question to include this "for example" section. In short, the doctor persistently and genuinely considered himself ordinary & mediocre when it was so obvious to others that his achievements and services were extraordinary. "Almost a sense of unworthiness which was very surprising", someone said. It's this sense that I'm trying to highlight in my sentence. | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 4:27 | comment | added | Tom22 | I think that "no one could help notice his professional humility' rather than "surpised by" "impressed by his humilty " is a more positive type of "surprise" .. "I am impressed" | |
| Apr 27, 2018 at 4:25 | comment | added | Tom22 | @EnglishStudent coming back to this one, I still think the other comments are on track in a number of ways saying 'humble' is the right word, excessive does not apply and oddly, I think you also but your thumb on it in the coment "humility .. is not something to be surprised by. Truly, when someone acts with a bearing that understates their accomplishments humble is the right word in connection. There is a difference between a "humble nature" and "professional humility" or humilty about his leadership in the field etc. You may mean both types of humble .. then use it twice | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 18:45 | comment | added | English Student | Yes, that's why I want a better option. I am trying to express that the doctor was far too humble given his great ability and services to society @Tom22 -- as in, how can he consider himself so ordinary when he is so obviously extraordinary? Mere "humility" doesn't cover it, I think. | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 18:44 | comment | added | Tom22 | English Student .. the word excessive is confusing the issue... it is negative of course because of what it means.. no doubt: en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/excessive More than is necessary, normal, or desirable; immoderate. | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 13:51 | answer | added | lbf | timeline score: 1 | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 13:15 | comment | added | English Student | I may disagree that humility can be disproportionate but thanks for the "modifier" suggestion that follows @JeffUK. | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 13:11 | comment | added | JeffUK | There's no such thing as 'disproportionate humility'. Someone with great importance who believes that are not really important at all is humble. If God himself came to Earth and said "I didn't really do anything, you guys deserve all the credit" He would be being humble. and that's a perfectly valid use of the word! You could use a modifier like 'Great humility' or 'Incredible humility' | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 13:08 | comment | added | English Student | Humility as such is not something to be very surprised by @JeffUK. Many persons express humility. I need to convey the sense of excessive "disproportionate" humility without using negative-sounding words that may possibly annoy the home audience. | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 13:03 | comment | added | JeffUK | What's wrong with "humility"? Humility is the underestimation or downplaying of your own importance, so you don't need a special word for people who are humble despite being important. "He was humble despite his high ability: everyone was surprised by this humility" | |
| Apr 25, 2018 at 12:57 | history | edited | English Student | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 25, 2018 at 12:50 | history | edited | English Student | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 25, 2018 at 12:45 | history | asked | English Student | CC BY-SA 3.0 |