meek

[ meek ]

/ mik /

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adjective, meek·er, meek·est.

humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.

overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame.

Obsolete. gentle; kind.

Nearby words

Origin of meek

1150–1200; Middle English meke, meoc < Old Norse mjūkr soft, mild, meek

SYNONYMS FOR meek

1. forbearing; yielding; unassuming; pacific, calm, soft. See gentle.

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Related forms

meek·ly, adverbmeek·ness, nouno·ver·meek, adjectiveo·ver·meek·ly, adverb

o·ver·meek·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for meekness

Meekness is less than ever an attractive quality in American life.
Blood for Sale? Reagan’s Pagan Cult|Lee Siegel|May 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Colomban bore with meekness and surprise the weight of the general reprobation.
Penguin Island|Anatole France
She was angered quickly, but she forgave just as readily, and underneath her pride there was the meekness of a child.
Return of the Native|Thomas Hardy
With a provoking air of meekness she said, 'I only want to know what you expect of me.'
Heartsease|Charlotte M. Yonge

I find in it the happiest mixture of spiritual authority, the meekness of a Christian, and the good manners of a gentleman.
The Works of William Cowper|William Cowper
On my conscience, I believe it has only made him worse; because he knew he never should be censured by such a pattern of meekness.
The Sylph, Volume I and II|Georgiana Cavendish

British Dictionary definitions for meekness

meek

/ (miːk) /

adjective

patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble

spineless or spiritless; compliant

an obsolete word for gentle

Derived Formsmeekly, adverbmeekness, noun

Word Origin for meek

C12: related to Old Norse mjūkr amenable; compare Welsh mwytho to soften

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for meekness

meekness

c.1200, meknesse; see meek (adj.) + -ness.

meek

adj.

c.1200, "gentle, quiet, unaggressive; benevolent, kind; courteous, humble, unassuming;" of a woman, "modest," from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse mjukr "soft, pliant, gentle"), from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (cf. Gothic muka-modei "humility," Dutch muik "soft"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *meug- "slippery, slimy." In the Bible, it translates Latin mansuetus from Vulgate (see mansuetude). Sense of "submissive" is from mid-14c.

meek

"those who are meek," c.1200, from meek (adj.).

meek

adjective, meek·er, meek·est.

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Origin of meek

Examples from the Web for meekness

meek

adjective

Word Origin for meek

meekness

meek

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