modestlyadv.

c1550 Clariodus (1830) iv. 257 He is went the mater to assay, Richt modestlie withoutin grite delay.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique ii. f. 55^v If we shall modestly set furthe our bounded dueties, and declare our service doen.

1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips xi. 79 After he [sc. the Lord] speaketh modestly, least by exasperatinge ouer much the sinne and errour in the faithfull, he shoulde trouble their mindes and discourage them vtterly.

1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse Ep. Ded. sig. ☞6 Euery man fedde modestly on that which stoode before him.

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 99 A prince..must use his authoritie modestlie.

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. vii. 105 Modestly I thinke, The fall of euery Phrigian stone will cost, A drop of Grecian bloud. View more context for this quotation

1674 W. Temple Let. to Ld. Chamberlain in Wks. (1720) II. 317 He believes the Point of Predestination the firmest that ever any body did, and laughs at any of them, that speak modestly of it.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 280. ¶3 Shewing how forcible it was to speak Modestly of your own Wants.

1735 J. Swift Let. to Duke of Dorset 30 Dec. I desired you would bestow a preferment of one hundred and fifty pounds a year to a certain clergyman. Your answer was, that I asked modestly.

1561 T. Blundeville tr. Plutarch Three Morall Treat. sig. Bii^v A virgyn is immaculate, A shamefast maide, which neuer wrought But modestlye wyth eurye state.

1574 B. Rich Right Exelent Dialogue Mercury & Eng. Souldier sig. Iiiii This younge Lady gouerned her life so modestly al the time of her youth, that her honest chastitie was no lesse commended..then the chaste Lucrecia or Penelope.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xxv. 66 The women being..richly apparrelled, yet doe weare the same modestly.

1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 40 But wee are to finde other exercises for these Agile Bodies; yet modestly; not such as that Soile to her Sex, the insatiate Messalina practised in her Antonine Bathes.

1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 236 Know then, and modestly let fall your eyes,..That air of insolence affronts your God.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. vii. 114 The hair to be arranged closely, modestly, plainly.

1854 J. H. Newman Lect. Hist. Turks ii. ii. 112 Togrul kissed the ground, and waited modestly, till he was led to the throne.

1963 J. Fountain in B. James Austral. Short Stories 277 Her long-lashed eyes modestly lowered.

1987 B. Moore Colour of Blood xi. 72 The women cast their eyes down modestly.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 738 He modestly aunswered, most noble and redoubted Lorde, this [etc.].

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 198 I could wish he would modestly examine himselfe, to see how much he is vnworthy so good a lady.

1663 J. Mayne tr. Lucian Part of Lucian i. sig. Vv4 Yet these speak much modestlyer then the Thebans, who derive themselves from a serpents teeth sown.

1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian Pref. sig. Aiii I think I may modestly conclude, that whatever errors there may be..they are not those which have been objected to it.

1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. x. 234 He very modestly said, ‘that he did not apprehend any large Proportion would fall to his share’. View more context for this quotation

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. iv. 100 Pertinax, who modestly represented the meanness of his extraction, and pointed out several noble senators more deserving than himself of the empire.

1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. xv. 220 ‘Je crois..,’ Heyward modestly replied; ‘je parle un peu Français.’

1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. x. 122 He hoped I was a good boy, which, being compelled to be my own trumpeter, I very modestly declared that I was.

1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 502/2 Starling has tried to safeguard himself..by modestly designating his drawing-room as a New Jersey one.

1974 J. B. Morton Beachcomber 168 As modestly as I could I explained that I was merely trying to do my duty as a good newspaper man, and that my successes were no doubt due to my flair for news.

1990 P. Ustinov Old Man & Mr Smith x. 111 ‘You and your extraordinary general knowledge.’ Mr Smith shrugged modestly. ‘It's part of my job.’

1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. xviii. 102 A man modestly indued with the Goods and Fortune of this world.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. iv. 24 Their forefathers had..modestly subsisted on the Docks.

1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 408/2 First they began modestly to adorn and brighten a few super-select but hitherto dingy studios.

1964 M. L. King Why we can't Wait iv. 60 Being prepared for a long struggle, we felt it best to begin modestly, with a limited number of arrests each day.

1995 Countryman Summer 48 The total population has grown modestly because of incomers, but its structure is ageing.