adjective
To be humble is to have a realistic,
level-headed outlook on your own skills and accomplishments and duly acknowledging and respecting those of others.
For instance, in a competitive setting, being able to accept a
loss and respect your opponent is being humble. Being able to
say "I was outplayed. My mistakes were punished. I will not repeat them." is both an admission of self-error, and commendation of the opponent.
It is the capacity to take those, whether you know them to be less or more than you, seriously. It is only manifested in the absence of
arrogance and it is what every sportsman should strive to be.
It's actually
sad to see how uncommon of a trait this is.
Jake is humble, he may be the best chess player in our state, but when he had
lost to an eight year old prodigy, he applauded him and encouraged him to continue improving - not upset or having
lost dignity or self-worth by the fact that he had
lost a mental battle to a kid.