menial Hear it!

menial Definition

me·nial (nē əl, mēnyəl)

adjective

  1. of or fit for servants; lowly; humble a menial task
  2. servile; low; mean

Etymology: ME meynal < Anglo-Fr meignal < meiniee, a family retainer, servant < OFr meisniee, household < L mansio: see mansion

noun

  1. a domestic servant
  2. a servile, low person

menial Related Forms

me·ni·ally adverb

menial Synonyms

menial

modif.

menial Synonyms

menial

n.

menial Usage Examples

Preposition: of

task: Scott is even willing to assist his brothers in even the most menial of tasks.

Modifies a noun

  • chore: George had to fight his way up, washing dishes, doing the most menial legal chores.
  • task: Child asks parent to do some menial task which child can do for herself.
  • servant: The labor of a menial servant, on the contrary, adds to the value of nothing.
  • job: Holding on to two menial jobs just to scrape a living is now the lot of many.
  • duty: Once upon a time, Jill, Sabrina & Kelly were police officers whose skills were being wasted in menial duties.
  • labor: Soldiers were often hired out by officers for menial labor.

Modifying Another Word

  • fairly: The able poor were to be set to work doing fairly menial duties such as hemp picking or could be hired out.
  • however: Be prepared to do anything, however menial, and stick at it.
  • too: Nowhere it seems is too far for her to travel to work, or too menial a task for her to perform.
  • so: Ours doesn't bother himself with anything so menial as serving food.

Used with adjective complement

  • do: Think of working class p e o p l e. And yes, thsoe who do menial, jobs in the background, unthanked.
  • have: I had menial, low-paid jobs and despite working a 35-40 hour week including night shifts, was getting into debt.