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slavish

[ sley-vish ]
/ ˈsleɪ vɪʃ /
||
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adjective

of or befitting a slave: slavish subjection.
being or resembling a slave; abjectly submissive: He was slavish in his obedience.
base; mean; ignoble: slavish fears.
deliberately imitative; lacking originality: a slavish reproduction.

RELATED WORDS

subserviently, obediently, abjectly, dutifully, sycophantically

Nearby words

slavery, slavey, slavic, slavicism, slavicist, slavishly, slavishly, slavism, slavist, slavkov, slavo-

Origin of slavish

First recorded in 1555–65; slave + -ish1
SYNONYMS FOR slavish
2 groveling, sycophantic, fawning, cringing. See servile.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slavishly

British Dictionary definitions for slavishly

slavish

/ (ˈsleɪvɪʃ) /

adjective

of or befitting a slave
being or resembling a slave; servile
unoriginal; imitative
archaic ignoble
Derived Formsslavishly, adverbslavishness, 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

Word Origin and History for slavishly

slavish

adj.

1560s, from slave (n.) + -ish. Sense of "servilely imitative, lacking originality or independence" is from 1753. Related: Slavishly; slavishness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper