slavishly submissive or obsequious; fawning: servile flatterers.
characteristic of, proper to, or customary for slaves; abject: servile obedience.
yielding slavishly; truckling (usually followed by to).
extremely imitative, especially in the arts; lacking in originality.
being in slavery; oppressed.
of, relating to, or involving slaves or servants.
of or relating to a condition of servitude or property ownership in which a person is held in slavery or partially enslaved: medieval rebellions against servile laws.
Origin of servile
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English servil(e), serville, from Latin servīlis “of a slave, slavish, servile,” equivalent to serv- (stem of servus “slave”) + -īlis -ile;see also serf
SYNONYMS FOR servile
1, 2 cringing, sycophantic.
2 humble, lowly.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR servile ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR servile
1 aggressive.
2 superior, exalted.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR servile ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for servile
1, 2. Servile,menial,obsequious,slavish characterize one who behaves like a slave or an inferior. Servile suggests cringing, fawning, and abject submission: servile responses to questions.Menial applies to that which is considered undesirable drudgery: the most menial tasks.Obsequious implies the ostentatious subordination of oneself to the wishes of another, either from fear or from hope of gain: an obsequious waiter.Slavish stresses the dependence and labori-ous toil of one who follows or obeys without question: slavish attentiveness to orders.
Women were better at carrying heavy loads because their heads were harder and stronger, the Arapesh would say, not because women were naturally suited to servile tasks.
Gender Is What You Make of It - Issue 88: Love & Sex|Charles King|August 5, 2020|Nautilus
Where Don is confident and arrogant, Bob is servile and accommodating.
Where ‘Mad Men’ Left Off: A Primer for Season Seven|Amy Zimmerman|April 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They are not permitted to speak of that period of colonial history when they were ruled as a servile caste by a Tutsi elite.
Exchanging Stories of Trauma|Mark Baker|August 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I found that I reverted to a housewife stereotype as servile as my grandma.
Boomerang Moms: When Mommy Returns to Deal With ‘Adultescents’|Sally Koslow|June 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Among these was Dames, of a servile birth, but of gigantic size and intrepid resolution.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Edward Gibbon
No servile can attend a shut vowel; and truith must hav her own, like suit and fruit: in dhe French bruit it iz also distinctive.
A Minniature ov Inglish Orthoggraphy|James Elphinston
Pray let us but consider a little what mean, servile things men do for this imaginary food.
Essays|Abraham Cowley
Nowhere else, they say, would people consent to wear the servile badge of their caste.
Meccania|Owen Gregory
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Leviticus|S H Kellogg
British Dictionary definitions for servile
servile
/ (ˈsɜːvaɪl) /
adjective
obsequious or fawning in attitude or behaviour; submissive
of or suitable for a slave
existing in or relating to a state of slavery
(when postpositive, foll by to) submitting or obedient