- 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, followed by to: submitting or obedient
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ser•vile /ˈsɜrvɪl, -vaɪl/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- obeying like a slave:the dictator's servile flatterers.
- of or relating to slaves, slavery, servants, or servitude.
ser•vile
(sûr′vil, -vīl),USA pronunciation adj.
ser′vile•ly, adv.
ser•vil′i•ty, ser′vile•ness, n.
- slavishly submissive or obsequious;
fawning:servile flatterers. - characteristic of, proper to, or customary for slaves;
abject:servile obedience. - yielding slavishly;
truckling (usually fol. by to). - extremely imitative, esp. in the arts;
lacking in originality. - being in slavery;
oppressed. - of, pertaining to, or involving slaves or servants.
- of or pertaining to a condition of servitude or property ownership in which a person is held as a slave or as partially enslaved:medieval rebellions against servile laws.
- Latin servīlis, equivalent. to serv- (stem of servīre to be a slave) + -īlis -ile
- Middle English 1350–1400
ser•vil′i•ty, ser′vile•ness, n.
- 1. 2. cringing, sycophantic. 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. 2. mean, base, low.
- 1. aggressive. 2. exalted.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
servile /ˈsɜːvaɪl/ adj
'servile' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
abject
- boot
- bootlick
- crawl
- crawler
- creep
- cringe
- flunky
- genuflect
- humble
- kowtow
- lackey
- lickspittle
- low
- menial
- mimic
- minion
- obsequious
- oily
- poodle
- slavish
- toadeater
- toady
- Uncle Tom
- yes man
- abjection
- adulate
- appendage
- base
- fawn
- gentle
- hand
- journeywork
- royal
- running dog
- villein socage
- work
- smarmy
- subservient
- supple
- sycophancy
- sycophant