as in humble
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness had always maintained a servile attitude around people with money

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How is the word servile distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of servile are obsequious, slavish, and subservient. While all these words mean "showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience," servile suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave.

a political boss and his entourage of servile hangers-on

When might obsequious be a better fit than servile?

While in some cases nearly identical to servile, obsequious implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner.

waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities

When could slavish be used to replace servile?

The words slavish and servile can be used in similar contexts, but slavish suggests abject or debased servility.

the slavish status of migrant farm workers

When would subservient be a good substitute for servile?

In some situations, the words subservient and servile are roughly equivalent. However, subservient implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position.

domestic help was expected to be properly subservient

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of servile Arriving at Egg Island sporting bohemian attire and a distinctly non-deferent attitude, Monk swiftly arouses the suspicions of Horton and his stuffy, servile housekeeper Mrs. McMurray (Kristine Nielsen). Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Sep. 2023 The statue features a godlike Lincoln astride a kneeling, formerly enslaved man in a loincloth — his servile gratitude could not be more apparent. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023 Will Dagger, too, as a farmhand who feels too deeply for people who rarely acknowledge his presence, makes a memorable virtue of the character’s servile role. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 14 July 2023 Responding to her questionnaire, Cyril Connolly, the editor of Horizon magazine, pointed out that the aggressive aims of fascist states required a populace that was ‘rendered both warlike and servile’ – the ‘stultifying’, in other words, ‘of the human race’. Sarah Watling, Time, 13 July 2023 See all Example Sentences for servile 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for servile
Adjective
  • For years, car safety experts and everyday drivers have bemoaned the loss of the humble button.
    Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024
  • Along with your keepsakes, bring a humble and curious mindset.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • The real estate agent she’s chosen happens to be the person most responsible for making Rhiannon such a meek, repressed person: her high school bully, Julia (Mood’s Nicôle Lecky).
    Judy Berman, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
  • Jenn, while possibly the best person on the show, is too meek and too little in her own estimation.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • Perhaps that’s why the character feels so one-dimensional compared to the franchise’s previous antagonists — that and the script’s abject failure to involve Gina in the story’s emotional stakes.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Here is a region with the world’s highest population and the vulgar coexistence of unspeakable wealth as well as abject poverty.
    Saleem H. Ali, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024
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

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Cite this Entry

“Servile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/servile. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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