adjective
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patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble
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spineless or spiritless; compliant
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an obsolete word for gentle
Usage
What does meek mean? When used in a positive way, meek describes someone who shows patient restraint. When used negatively, it means overly submissive. The positive sense of meek implies that someone is able to remain calm and subdued even when being provoked. Its negative use is perhaps more common, and is intended to indicate that someone is being too passive. The word meek is often associated with Christian virtues due to its use in a well-known Bible passage. Example: I know you’re naturally reserved, but you can’t be so meek during job interviews.
Synonym Usage
See gentle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of meek
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English meke, meoc, from Old Norse mjūkr “soft, mild, meek”
Explanation
The adjective meek describes a person who is willing to go along with whatever other people want to do, like a meek classmate who won't speak up, even when he or she is treated unfairly. A meek person can also be humble, but these words aren't quite synonyms. If you are humble, you don't want a lot of attention, like the humble athlete who has a truly excellent performance yet after the game, tells reporters that it was group effort by the whole team. A meek person, on the other hand, would never think a reporter would ever want to talk to him or her, and if asked, would probably try to get someone else, someone more "worthy," to do it.
Vocabulary lists containing meek
Touching Spirit Bear
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The Cay
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rangers' 2-1 first-leg defeat in their Europa League third-round qualifier away to Jagiellonia Bialystok came hot on the heels of a meek draw at Dundee United in their Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
These are from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus blesses the poor, the meek and the peacemakers, and then calls on his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
Few animated movies are willing to venture beyond meek, kid-friendly entertainment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
A pope’s main role is to bear witness to the words of Christ, who said far more about taking care of the meek and turning the other cheek than he did about waging war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
I resent her meek head, bowed as if into a heavy wind.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
First, riverbank lupine snuck into the garden on a mislabeled seed package, swamping meeker plants.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2023
After Jane Cleveland’s husband is installed as vicar in a village church, Jane is introduced to a Miss Doggett, a robust woman who bosses around the meeker parishioners.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2022
But the evening quickly becomes awkward, as the incorrigible alpha male Lucas teases and pokes at the meeker Adam, making unreasonable demands on him and Eva until Adam finally breaks and spills some embarrassing secrets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2022
Ron is a gigantic goof who either doesn't read body language well or ignores it entirely, overpowering the smaller, meeker Marcus with his gigantic personality and boundless acts of kindness.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2021
Be she meeker, kinder, than Turtle-dove or pelican, If she be not so to me What care I how kind she be?
From The Golden Treasury Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language and arranged with Notes by Various
Last are the mammals, from the mightiest Javan rhinoceros to the meekest mountain pygmy possum.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2023
“In his interactions with the loftiest of public officials or the meekest of private figures, he hoped and sought to get at the truth,” Chris Haley said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2021
The 2020 high school football season has ended in West Virginia with the meekest of whimpers.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 2, 2020
I witnessed her open her eyes and says in the meekest whisper of a voice: “I want to get off this merry-go-round. I want to go home.”
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2020
And signed: ‘Thy everloving father, in this world and the next, author of thy being and guardian of thy virtue; in meekest love, Hugh Crain.’
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
