subservient

[suh b-sur-vee-uh nt]

See more synonyms for subservient on Thesaurus.com

adjective

serving or acting in a subordinate capacity; subordinate.
servile; excessively submissive; obsequious: subservient persons; subservient conduct.
useful in promoting a purpose or end.

Origin of subservient

1625–35; < Latin subservient- (stem of subserviēns, present participle of subservīre to subserve), equivalent to sub- sub- + servi-, stem of servīre to serve + -ent -ent

Related formssub·ser·vi·ence, sub·ser·vi·en·cy, nounsub·ser·vi·ent·ly, adverbun·sub·ser·vi·ent, adjectiveun·sub·ser·vi·ent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for subservient

submissive, deferential, inferior, abject, acquiescent, cringing, docile, fawning, ignoble, mean, menial, obeisant, obsequious, resigned, servile, slavish, subject, bootlicking, cowering, dancing

Examples from the Web for subservient

Contemporary Examples of subservient

After World War II, there was a long phase in which central banks were subservient to governments.
Carmen Reinhart on Why the Central Bankers Will Eventually Be Tempted to Inflate
Megan McArdle
April 15, 2013
I was basically to be a quiet, subservient Rent-a-Housewife.
Illegal New York Poker Clubs: A Former Waitress Reveals What Goes on Inside
Sara Copeland
April 12, 2012
By 1996, they had been happily married for nearly eight years, but she found herself slipping back into subservient wife mode.
Jane Fonda’s New Biography: 14 Juicy Bits
Lizzie Crocker
August 23, 2011
Asian girls are subservient, obedient, and bred for male pleasure.
Obama's Porn Problem With Liberals
McKay Coppins
April 21, 2011

Historical Examples of subservient

We must separate the fanciful from the real, or at least make the one subservient to the other.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
I loved him so that I could crush every other feeling down, subservient to my passion.
The Golden Woman
Ridgwell Cullum
Marta by the trembling, subservient Archbishop of his creation.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
Surely the stomach should be subservient to the mind; but it isn't.
Molly Bawn
Margaret Wolfe Hamilton
Politics are no métier for a woman, or they should be subservient to something else.
Mary Gray
Katharine Tynan

British Dictionary definitions for subservient

subservient

adjective

obsequious in behaviour or attitude
serving as a means to an end
a less common word for subordinate (def. 2)

Derived Formssubserviently, adverbsubservience or subserviency, noun

Word Origin for subservient

C17: from Latin subserviēns complying with, from subservīre to subserve

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 subservient

adj.

1630s, "useful, serviceable," from Latin subservientem (nominative subserviens), present participle of subservire "assist, lend support," from sub "under" (see sub-) + servire "serve" (see serve). The meaning "slavishly obedient" is first recorded 1794.