servile Hear it!

servile Definition

ser·vile (sʉr′vəl, -vīl′)

adjective

  1. of a slave or slaves
  2. like that of slaves or servants servile employment
  3. like or characteristic of a slave; humbly yielding or submissive; cringing; abject
  4. Archaic held in slavery; not free

Etymology: ME < L servilis < servus, slave: see serf

servile Related Forms
ser′·vilely adverb ser·vil′·ity (sər vil′ə tē) noun pl. -·ties ser′·vile·ness noun
servile Synonyms

servile

modif.

menial, beggarly, cringing; see humble 1, 2, obsequious.

servile Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • fear: C.S. Lewis wrote " Servile fear is, to be sure, the lowest form of religion.
  • condition: Even today, according to the UN, 200 million people work in servile conditions throughout the globe.
  • submission: Here is an excellent example of servile submission from someone who really did blindly travel about the Highlands.
  • concubinage: The crowded harim, with its sanction of servile concubinage, was also an evil school for the rising generation.
  • mentality: The modern laborers may be free, but they may also still have something of the servile mentality.
  • dependency: Servile dependency was one of the proud Greeks ' worst fears.

Modifying Another Word

  • not: Tho he is not servile or mercenary, he is the victim of self-will.
  • even: He wrote a flattering, even servile letter to Sartre praising the latter as the only thinker capable of understanding him.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: If service is not taken up in the spirit of sonship, I am sure it becomes servile.
servile Quotes

All pictorial or plastic art is useless; art should be a monster which casts servile minds into terror.

—Tzara,Tristan pseudonym of Samy Rosenstock