servile

[ sur-vil, -vahyl ]

/ ˈsɜr vɪl, -vaɪl /

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.

Nearby words

services, servicewoman, servient, servient tenement, serviette, servile, servile work, servilely, servility, serving, servite

Origin of servile

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

SYNONYMS FOR servile

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.

Related forms

ser·vile·ly, adverbser·vil·i·ty, ser·vile·ness, nounnon·ser·vile, adjectivenon·ser·vile·ly, adverb

non·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

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

Examples from the Web for servilely

A truth which we accept with closed eyes, submissively, deferentially, servilely—such a truth is nothing but a lie.
The Forerunners|Romain Rolland
Spite of himself, he is filled with awe at its approach, and servilely bends before it as it passes him.
Society, Manners and Politics in the United States|Michael Chevalier
Most of these novelties were servilely copied from French aviation.
Georges Guynemer|Henry Bordeaux
It was her nature, as we have said, servilely to copy others.
The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers|Mary Cholmondeley

Must Ireland have no character of its own but be servilely imitative of its neighbor in all things and be nothing of itself?
Imaginations and Reveries|(A.E.) George William Russell

British Dictionary definitions for servilely

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

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 servilely

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.