DictionaryimmodestRevealing the body
adjective

immodest

Exposing the body in a way considered improper.

The costume was considered immodest under the school’s dress rules.

Etymology

The negative prefix denies modest restraint. In this bodily sense, immodest judges exposure by a community’s standards of what is considered proper.

In context

Owl the storyteller2:49
Some critics even suggested that the crinoline was immodest, particularly in windy conditions when the wide skirts could billow up.
Criticisms of the Crinoline (1860s)| part 19. #fashionhistory #history #viralvideo #victorianera

More examples

  • Her grandmother regarded the short skirt as immodest.
  • The novel contrasts changing ideas about what clothing is immodest.
  • The guide explains why that community considers exposed shoulders immodest.

Forms

immodest · more immodest · most immodest

Similar words

indecent
Indecent is a stronger judgment of impropriety; immodest often reflects a community’s standards for dress or bodily exposure.
revealing
Revealing describes exposed areas; immodest adds a judgment that the exposure is improper.