ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsSservile
ISEE/SSAThard
servile
Meaning: excessively submissive or eager to please
servile in a sentence
How servile is used in real sentences:
The clerk's servile manner toward the wealthy customers made his coworkers uncomfortable.
The courtier's servile bowing annoyed the queen, who valued honesty over flattery.
“An insolent resident who mocked a clerk's authority no longer gained attention merely by becoming louder, and a servile applicant no longer advanced by flattering staff.”
— from the passage Waiting by Design
“Their hegemony over the county board had long seemed complete; one commissioner offered servile praise even as Mara displayed poisoned minnows.”
— from the passage The Ninth Spring
“She had mistaken allegiance for rigor, echoing senior critics in a servile manner whenever her private reactions threatened their approval.”
— from the passage The Late Correction
Synonyms for servile
Other words for servile — slavish, obsequious and submissive — carry the same meaning.
- slavish
- obsequious
- submissive
Antonyms of servile
Words that mean the opposite of servile:
- assertive
- domineering
Where it comes from
From Latin servus 'slave'
Memory hook
SERV-ile sounds like 'SERVE-ile' — acting like a low SERVANT, bowing to everyone's wishes.