servile

[sur-vil, -vahyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR servile 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 as a slave or as partially enslaved: medieval rebellions against servile laws.

Origin of servile

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin servīlis, equivalent to serv- (stem of servīre to be a slave) + -īlis -ile

Related formsser·vile·ly, adverbser·vil·i·ty, ser·vile·ness, nounnon·ser·vile, adjectivenon·ser·vile·ly, adverbnon·ser·vile·ness, nouno·ver·ser·vile, adjectiveo·ver·ser·vile·ly, adverbo·ver·ser·vile·ness, nouno·ver·ser·vil·i·ty, nounpseu·do·ser·vile, adjectivepseu·do·ser·vile·ly, adverbun·ser·vile, adjectiveun·ser·vile·ly, adverb

Synonyms for servile

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR servile ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. cringing, sycophantic. 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. 2. mean, base, low.

Antonyms for servile

1. aggressive. 2. exalted.

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

Related Words for servile

abject, base, beggarly, craven, cringing, despicable, fawning, humble, ignoble, low, mean, obedient, obeisant, obsequious, passive, slavish, submissive, unctuous, bootlicking, sycophantic

Examples from the Web for servile

Contemporary Examples of servile

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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of servile

My brother was servile; he has attached himself to the retinue of a wealthy Baroness.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
Base hearts it only hardens, making those who were mean and servile, mean and proud.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
Art so followed is the most servile indolence in which life can be wasted.
Modern Painters Volume I (of V)
John Ruskin
The servile spouters in the land are as plenty as summer flies.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Now both these are branches of the servile or ministerial art.
Statesman
Plato

British Dictionary definitions for servile

servile

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

Derived Formsservilely, adverbservility (sɜːˈvɪlɪtɪ) or servileness, noun

Word Origin for servile

C14: from Latin servīlis, from servus slave

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 servile

adj.

late 14c., from Latin servilis "of a slave" (as in Servile Wars, name given to the slave revolts in the late Roman Republic), also "slavish, servile," from servus "slave" (see serve (v.)). Earliest sense was legal, servile work being forbidden on the Sabbath; sense of "cringing, fawning" first recorded c.1600.