self-deprecating

American  

[self-dep-ri-key-ting, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈdɛp rɪˌkeɪ tɪŋ, ˌsɛlf- /

Also self-deprecatory

adjective

1. belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.

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self-deprecating British  

adjective

1. having a tendency to disparage oneself

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Other Word Forms

• self-deprecatingly adverb
• self-deprecation noun

Example Sentences

There he speaks with self-deprecating humor about the shame of having been born in working-class Brooklyn.

From The Wall Street Journal

Paltzik, his lawyer, raised doubts about the authenticity of the texts but said “even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor.”

From Salon

Anthony Gottlieb sums him up in an engrossing biography, “Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes,” writing that “his charismatic gift was to be halting, self-deprecating and imperious all at the same time.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The humor is self-deprecating, the setting international, the weather wintry, the company good.

From Los Angeles Times

Jetten, who survived multiple knockout rounds to place third in the show’s finale, came across as charismatic and self-deprecating, viewers said.

From The Wall Street Journal