servility

American  

[sur-vil-i-tee] / ˌsɜrˈvɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely servileness

noun

1. the quality of being slavishly submissive or fawning.

   The place was full of florists and decorators, all striving to outdo each other in servility to the bride-to-be.

2. the quality of being extremely imitative or unoriginal, especially in the arts.

   Servility to a French European tradition may explain why these 19th-century poets failed to leave a mark on French Canada’s literary history.

3. the state or condition of being a slave or servant.

   Under Guru Nanak, a people who had lived for centuries in total servility became valiant warriors against their oppressors.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overservility
  noun
• nonservility
  noun
• overservileness
  noun
• nonservileness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of servility

First recorded in 1525–35; servil(e) ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Example Sentences

They learned that there was no way to avoid that short of total servility and deference.

From Salon • May 12, 2023

The abject servility with which Pierce’s Willy rushes to retrieve the lighter that Howard has dropped on the floor, speaks volumes about powerlessness.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2022

It isn’t luck, pluck or happy coincidence that propels Balram from his ragged beginnings to sleek triumph, but cunning, desperation and a coldbloodedness that can masquerade as servility.

From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2021

It is nice to find there are still some limits to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’s servility.

From Washington Post • Dec. 21, 2020

Although Nabokov was the scion of a Russian noble family, he detested the class-bound servility ubiquitous in the land of his birth.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann