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. )

Explanation

Something that serves a purpose for someone or something else demonstrates subservience. Something that's a means to an end has subservience, like a character whose introduction has subservience to the book's plot. You can also use the word subservience to describe submissive or servile behavior, like the subservience of an obedient dog who always fetches your slippers. The word originally meant simply "usefulness," and it came from the Latin root word subservientem, "assist, or lend support."

Example Sentences

Subservience to the common cause is necessary, but subservience to another nation's desires tends to compromise the common goal.

From Time Magazine Archive

Subservience before the boss is a talent of statesmanship which Harry Truman mastered to perfection.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then McMahon stopped reaching for his own laughs and settled into the long-running role of Mr. Subservience.

From Time Magazine Archive

Subservience to mere custom is as common as that to teacher and to print.

From How to Study and Teaching How to Study by McMurry, Frank M. (Frank Morton)

An Imitation of his Faults, or a Compliance, if not Subservience, to his Vices, must be the Measures of your Conduct.

From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Addison, Joseph

Related Words

• acquiescence
• conformity
• deference
• orderliness
• reverence