Synonyms of servile

servile

adjective

ˈsər-vəl 

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

• humble
• meek
• abject
• menial
• slavish
• base
• sheepish
• hangdog
• sycophantic
• lamblike
• unassuming
• modest
• lowly
• fawning
• retiring
• demure
• unpretentious
• sycophant
• toadyish

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• arrogant
• haughty
• supercilious
• superior
• imperious
• uppity
• lordly
• high-handed

Synonym Chooser

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of servile

That this was news was hard to believe, since complaints about servile female voices had been made not for years but for decades. —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024

His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here. —Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024

Some Hawaiian cultural experts say aloha is a complex and fluid idea, too often misconstrued as a sweet and servile way of tolerating visitors. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2023

These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status. —Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014

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