servile

[ sur-vil, -vahyl ]

See synonyms for: servile servileness servility on Thesaurus.com

adjective

slavishly submissive or obsequious; fawning: servile flatterers.
characteristic of, proper to, or customary for slaves; abject: servile obedience.

yielding slavishly; truckling (usually followed by to).
extremely imitative, especially in the arts; lacking in originality.
being in slavery; oppressed.
of, relating to, or involving slaves or servants.
of or relating to a condition of servitude or property ownership in which a person is held in slavery or partially enslaved: medieval rebellions against servile laws.

Origin of servile

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English servil(e), serville, from Latin servīlis “of a slave, slavish, servile,” equivalent to serv- (stem of servus “slave”) + -īlis -ile;see also serf

synonym study For servile

1, 2. Servile, menial, obsequious, slavish characterize one who behaves like a slave or an inferior. Servile suggests cringing, fawning, and abject submission: servile responses to questions. Menial applies to that which is considered undesirable drudgery: the most menial tasks. Obsequious implies the ostentatious subordination of oneself to the wishes of another, either from fear or from hope of gain: an obsequious waiter. Slavish stresses the dependence and labori-ous toil of one who follows or obeys without question: slavish attentiveness to orders.

Other words for servile

1	cringing, sycophantic, obsequious
2	obedient; humble, lowly

See synonyms for servile on Thesaurus.com

Opposites for servile

1	insubordinate
2	disobedient; lordly, superior

See antonyms for servile on Thesaurus.com

Other words from servile

ser·vile·ly, adverb
ser·vil·i·ty [sur-vil-i-tee], /ˌsɜrˈvɪl ɪ ti/, ser·vile·ness, noun
non·ser·vile, adjective
non·ser·vile·ly, adverb
o·ver·ser·vile, adjective
o·ver·ser·vile·ly, adverb
pseu·do·ser·vile, adjective
pseu·do·ser·vile·ly, adverb
un·ser·vile, adjective
un·ser·vile·ly, adverb

Words Nearby servile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use servile in a sentence

The “truth” that the film claims to reveal is that there was a “genocide” of Pandits in the 1990s, hidden by a callous ruling establishment and a servile media.
The Kashmir Files: How a New Bollywood Film Marks India’s Further Descent Into Bigotry | Debasish Roy Chowdhury | March 30, 2022 | Time
I really wanted to show how people of color in servile positions to a largely homogenous group of people, when that’s your employment, you’re not allowed to say what you think always.
Natasha Rothwell Says Goodbye to Insecure—And Hello to the Future | Cady Lang | December 27, 2021 | Time
For India’s mostly servile media, this is a striking break from the usual after seven years of Modi.
It Isn't Just Modi. India’s Compliant Media Must Also Take Responsibility for the COVID-19 Crisis | Debasish Roy Chowdhury | May 3, 2021 | Time
Julie Andrews played Cinderella—neat as a new pin and not remotely servile.
What the Rise and Fall of the Cinderella Fairy Tale Means for Real Women Today | Carol Dyhouse | April 19, 2021 | Time
Women were better at carrying heavy loads because their heads were harder and stronger, the Arapesh would say, not because women were naturally suited to servile tasks.
Gender Is What You Make of It - Issue 88: Love & Sex | Charles King | August 5, 2020 | Nautilus

Where Don is confident and arrogant, Bob is servile and accommodating.
Where ‘Mad Men’ Left Off: A Primer for Season Seven | Amy Zimmerman | April 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
They are not permitted to speak of that period of colonial history when they were ruled as a servile caste by a Tutsi elite.
Exchanging Stories of Trauma | Mark Baker | August 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
In memory, he was reviled as a servile race traitor, a cringing sycophant to white wealth and power.
David's Book Club: Up From History | David Frum | February 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
I found that I reverted to a housewife stereotype as servile as my grandma.
Boomerang Moms: When Mommy Returns to Deal With ‘Adultescents’ | Sally Koslow | June 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is only the servile adulation of later writers that has pictured Bruce as animated by patriotism.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison
This he promptly did, and in almost servile language withdrew all the opinions to which the fathers had objected.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
From the freedom of nature it sinks into a servile copyism which can hardly be called art at all.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
Gospodin Berkman—somehow it echoed the servile barinya with which the domestics used to address my mother.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman
Would those silly men, those servile votaries of fortune, those effete courtiers, have said this a week ago?
The 'Characters' of Jean de La Bruyre | Jean de La Bruyre

British Dictionary definitions for servile

servile

/ (ˈsɜːvaɪl) /

adjective

obsequious or fawning in attitude or behaviour; submissive
of or suitable for a slave

existing in or relating to a state of slavery
(when postpositive, foll by to) submitting or obedient

Origin of servile

C14: from Latin servīlis, from servus slave

Derived forms of servile

servilely, adverb
servility (sɜːˈvɪlɪtɪ) or servileness, noun

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

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