Word.ws English Dictionary

modest proposals

modest proposals is the plural of modest proposal.

Meaning of modest proposal

Noun

modest proposal (plural modest proposals)

  1. (idiomatic) An idea which is especially extreme, unorthodox or distasteful, often put forward in jest.
    • And for all the chuntering about the "Granny Tax" it is not as though Osborne made a radical or, if you prefer, modest proposal along the lines of offering tax credits or generous allowances to the heirs of pensioners who plump for voluntary, patriotic euthanasia...2012, Alex Massie, “Soak the Old”, in The Spectator
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see modest, proposal.

Questions about modest proposals

What is modest proposals the plural of?
Modest proposals is the plural of modest proposal.

Words near modest proposals in the dictionary

  1. Modesitt
  2. Modesitts
  3. modest
  4. modest cadlina
  5. modest proposal
  6. modest proposals
  7. Modestan
  8. modester
  9. modestest
  10. modesties
  11. Modestino

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: modest proposals (page history and authors); modest proposal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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