SINCE 1828
subservience
noun
sub·ser·vi·ence
| \ səb-ˈsər-vē-ən(t)s
\
\
Definition of subservience
1
: a subservient or subordinate place or function
2
: obsequious servility
Examples of subservience in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The politics that snagged these readers’ interest — and, often, annoyance — was gender-based through and through, a general acknowledgement of Blazer’s power and Alice’s subservience. — Maria L. La Ganga, www.latimes.com, "What's L.A. reading? Our habits are as diverse as the city itself," 6 June 2019 Automatic subservience to public-sector unions, particularly the teachers, ended. — WSJ, "Wisconsin Barricade Shows Real Revolution," 24 Aug. 2018 The book, through case studies, examined the entrenched societal systems that preserved the subservience, dependence and hopelessness of the slave era. — Neil Genzlinger, New York Times, "Price Cobbs, Who Helped Define ‘Black Rage,’ Is Dead at 89," 10 July 2018 The general Republican subservience to Trump on immigration shouldn’t surprise us. — Jeet Heer, The New Republic, "Laura Bush condemns Trump’s family separation policy, but will the GOP listen?," 18 June 2018 The Tigers also boasted the world’s fiercest army of women, even as Tamil society imposed a culture of subservience. — Longreads, "A Chance to Rewrite History: The Women Fighters of the Tamil Tigers," 22 May 2018 During Monday’s investiture debate, Torra made clear his subservience to ex-Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who is fighting extradition from Germany. — Washington Post, "Fervent secessionist picked as Catalonia’s stand-in leader," 15 May 2018 Iran’s own people staged public protests across the country last weekend, explicitly citing the subservience of their needs to the mullahs’ militarized spending. — Daniel Henninger, WSJ, "It’s Trump’s Iran Deal Now," 9 May 2018 But plots devised to teach these women subservience have been rendered obsolete by a late-evolving common sense. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "South Coast Rep's 'Shrew!' trips along the rutted road of Shakespearean updates," 2 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'subservience.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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