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
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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 
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
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The Type 2 sits among some of the more humble and accessible classics.—
Trinity Francis,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Even Bend feels changed, its population surging, its character shifting, the way humble towns do when they are discovered by outsiders.—
John Branch,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Each tree has promised itself right up from the ground, branches full of dying... Elegy Written In A City Cemetery Sina Queyras Somebody left the world last night, and last, and last, and last: wild is the glower of wind, and words too thin, too meek to shelter.—
Max Ufberg,
hazlitt.net,
10 Jan. 2025
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He was supposed to be a meek guy who doesn’t speak up.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The multiyear project will have been an abject failure.—
Makena Kelly,
WIRED,
15 Jan. 2025
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For instance, all trials involving a cylinder shape were abject failures, unable to keep the hoop aloft.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
Ars Technica,
3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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At the time, job prospects for female chemists were limited to menial positions.—
Katie Hafner,
Scientific American,
24 Oct. 2024
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Despite their training and education, they were often assigned menial tasks.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near servile
Cite this Entry
“Servile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/servile. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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