menial

1 of 2

adjective

me·​nial ˈmē-nē-əl 

-nyəl

1

: of or relating to servants : lowly

a menial worker

2

a

: appropriate to a servant : humble, servile

answered in menial tones

menial household chores

b

: lacking interest or dignity

a menial task

menially adverb

menial

2 of 2

noun

: a person doing menial work

specifically : a domestic (see domestic entry 1 sense 4) servant or retainer (see retainer entry 1 sense 1a)

Synonyms

Adjective

• abject
• base
• humble
• servile
• slavish

Noun

• daily [British]
• domestic
• flunky
• flunkey
• flunkie
• lackey
• retainer
• servant
• steward

Examples of menial in a Sentence

Adjective

every command was obeyed in the menial manner of someone who seemed grateful just to be in the presence of a celebrity

Noun

immigrants to that country faced fierce prejudice and could expect to find work only as menials

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Youth team manager Dave Merrington was a strict disciplinarian, ensuring all the menial jobs done by budding young footballers back then — such as cleaning the dressing rooms and sweeping the terraces — had to be done to the highest standard. —Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 13 Aug. 2024

Advertisement Trump’s rhetoric about jobs has been widely condemned by Democrats and Black leaders who have called it a racist and insulting way of implying that Black and Hispanic Americans take menial jobs. —Fatima Hussein, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2024

Noun

Artificial intelligence has been heralded for its ability to optimize tasks, from the menial to the more complex. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Outside the windowless offices, the anthropocene was over—somehow these hapless menials had missed its bang or its whimper—and the pre-human food chain was busy reasserting itself. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle English meynial, from Anglo-French meignal, from mesnee, mayné household, retinue, from Vulgar Latin *mansionata, from Latin mansion-, mansio dwelling — more at mansion

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

menial

1 of 2 adjective

me·​nial ˈmē-nē-əl 

-nyəl

1

: of, relating to, or suitable for servants

2

: lacking interest or dignity

a menial task

menially

-ē

adverb

menial

2 of 2 noun

: domestic entry 2