The phrase "a modest expression" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a statement or remark that is humble or not overly assertive in nature.
Example: "Her response was a modest expression of gratitude, reflecting her humble personality."
Alternatives: "a humble remark" or "a restrained statement."
The movie appears to end with a modest expression of hope, but Wiseman has a sinister episode waiting for us.
Cedeño reached first, where he held a modest expression until he looked at Mike Sweeney, Kansas City's first baseman -- and then Cedeño grinned.
I handed him some pages of good (trust me) material and as he finished reading and as I assumed a modest expression, awaiting my compliment, he removed his glasses, held my gaze for a disconcerting moment and uttered a statement that deserves immortality.
ALDEN HARRIS Boston Hearing the Players To the Sports Editor: Re "With Simple Protest, Players Join Push for N.C.A.A. Reform," Sept. 25: I am glad that football players from Georgia, Georgia Tech and Northwestern chose to make, with messages taped on their wrists, a modest expression of their interest in the future of their relationship with the N.C.A.A.
Importantly, individual drug exposure led to a modest expression of cleaved PARP, a hallmark of apoptosis.
At day 6, Act A-LC presented an immature phenotype with a modest expression of CD80, CCR7 and CD83 (Fig. 1A).
The lpxL1 NOMV with a pentacylated lipid A induced modest expression of CD40 compared to unstimulated but induced little to no expression of HLA-Class I and HLA-DR and CD83.
We next assessed the expression of macrophage polarization markers on CD14+ monocytes and measured a marked expression of the MΦIFN-γ marker CD64 and a more modest expression of the MΦIL-4 marker CD200R and the MΦIL-10 marker CD16.
The high sensitivity of the NSCLC cells to VT-1 despite a modest Gb3 expression implies that Gb3 expression, though necessary, does not mediate VT-1 cytotoxicity alone.
The hourlong show is a modest, gentle expression of cross-cultural appreciation, conveyed by a cast impossible to resist.
It is possible that this system is involved in the regulation of lrgAB, but only a modest enhanced expression (not statistically significant) of this two-component system was observed.
