The act of keeping oneself in the background, as in humility.(noun)
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Use "self-effacement" in a sentence
"When he bows to foreign leaders, he is not displaying "otherness" but the counterculture Americanism of honorable self-effacement in which America acknowledges its own capacity for evil as prelude to engagement."
"Jane Kirk, a Republican from Nelson, gushed over Mr. Huntsman's manners, his self-effacement and his low-key discourse."
"It is a privilege to work with Steve whose smarts and self-effacement are legendary in a town that rarely sees much of those qualities in combination."