subservience

American  

[suhb-sur-vee-uhns] / səbˈsɜr vi əns /

Sometimes subserviency

noun

1. the fact of serving in a subordinate position or role.

   There is no hierarchy, no dominance or subservience of any member, in this vision of the faith community.

2. a servile or excessively submissive quality or manner.

   Was I so weak that a child could reduce me to this fawning subservience—without will, without character?

3. the fact or quality of being useful, or the state of being used, to promote a certain purpose or end.

   Popular nationalists decried Irish subservience to British commercial interests, and promised to strengthen economic sovereignty.

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Etymology

Origin of subservience

First recorded in 1645–55; subservi(ent) ( def. ) + -ence ( def. )

Example Sentences

The utter subservience of American pop culture to baby boomers over the past 50-odd years has engendered justifiable resentment among members of the subsequent alphabet generations.

From The Wall Street Journal

Maybe divine intervention wouldn’t be such a bad thing if utter subservience to billionaires, technology and manufactured loneliness is the alternative.

From Salon

It helped undo the damage done by the subservience in “I Dream of Jeannie.”

From The Wall Street Journal

He is emotionally weakened to the point of subservience — to tech, to conspiracy, and humor; anything that will restore some meaning.

From Salon

If anything, her role as a path-breaker created expectations that far exceeded the inherent subservience of her vice presidential position.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• acquiescence
• conformity
• deference
• orderliness
• reverence