menial

[mee-nee-uhl, meen-yuhl]

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adjective

lowly and sometimes degrading: menial work.

servile; submissive: menial attitudes.

pertaining to or suitable for domestic servants; humble: menial furnishings.

noun

a domestic servant.

a servile person.

Nearby words

Origin of menial

1350–1400; Middle English meynyal < Anglo-French me(i)nial. See meiny, -al¹

SYNONYMS FOR menial

2. fawning. See servile. 4. attendant, underling, hireling, lackey.

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ANTONYMS FOR menial

1. dignified. 2. proud.

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Related forms

me·ni·al·ly, adverbnon·me·ni·al, adjectivenon·me·ni·al·ly, adverbun·me·ni·al, adjective

un·me·ni·al·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for menial

Although I hated the menial tasks the job required, it gave me a window into the power of local government.
There’s No Better Test for Millennials than the American City|Michael Tubbs|April 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Or refusing to take on menial work, such as working in a café for example, and instead whining at your parents to pay your rent?
Why ‘Girls’ Is Bad for Women|Emma Woolf|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Charles Murray worries that we've made it too easy to be a menial worker.
Social Science Minus the Science|David Frum|February 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Prosperity created a situation familiar to Americans and Northern Europeans: some jobs became too menial for Russians.
Murder in Moscow|Scott Horton|December 29, 2008|DAILY BEAST

People get tired of applying for menial jobs and the changes.
Why Are More Boomers Killing Themselves?|Lizzie Stark|October 22, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Daisy Griggs told me this morning that Mignon said she wouldnt be seen associating with a menial like that Browning girl.
Marjorie Dean High School Senior|Pauline Lester
He lay there five days, during which we performed every friendly and even every menial office.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
They could toil unceasingly, bend their backs to the most menial labor, so long as they toiled upon their own freehold.
Nobody's Child|Elizabeth Dejeans
"That would make out a good deal more of the menial in the world than is commonly supposed," laughed Hesper.
Mary Marston|George MacDonald
Of course not, my dear Miss Dalton; but shall I commit the precious charge to a menial's hand?
The Daltons, Volume I (of II)|Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for menial

menial

adjective

consisting of or occupied with work requiring little skill, esp domestic duties such as cleaning

of, involving, or befitting servants

servile

noun

a domestic servant

a servile person

Derived Formsmenially, adverb

Word Origin for menial

C14: from Anglo-Norman meignial, from Old French meinie household. See meiny

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 menial

menial

adj.

late 14c., "pertaining to a household," from Anglo-French meignial, from Old French mesnie "household," earlier mesnede, from Vulgar Latin *mansionata, from Latin mansionem "dwelling" (see mansion). Sense of "lowly, humble, suited to a servant" is recorded by 1670s.

menial

"domestic servant," late 14c., meynyal; see menial (adj.).

menial

adjective

noun

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Origin of menial

Examples from the Web for menial

menial

adjective

noun

Word Origin for menial

menial

menial