subservient

adjective

sub·​ser·​vi·​ent səb-ˈsər-vē-ənt 

1

: useful in an inferior capacity : subordinate

2

: serving to promote some end

3

: obsequiously submissive : truckling

subserviently adverb

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How Should You Use subservient?

Since sub- means "below", it emphasizes the lower position of the person in the subservient one. Soldiers of a given rank are always subservient to those of a higher rank; this subservience is symbolized by the requirement that they salute their superior at every opportunity. Women have often been forced into subservient relationships with men. A small nation may feel subservient to its more powerful neighbor, obliged to obey even when it doesn't want to. So subservience usually brings with it a good dose of resentment.

Examples of subservient in a Sentence

Sally Boysen, a psychologist at Ohio State University, probed the degree to which a chimp's ability to reason is subservient to the animal's desires. —Eugene Linden, Time, 6 Sept. 1999

That's why many believe that I have the right to preach but not to pastor. For a woman to be a pastor would mean that men would have to submit and be subservient to a woman. —Chryll Crews, Ms., January/February 1998

As for a "European Europe," allied with but not subservient to the United States, providing for its own defense and diplomacy and practicing detente with Moscow, de Gaulle did not achieve it in his lifetime, but there was at least a beginning. —Stanley Hoffmann, New York Times Book Review, 20 Mar. 1983

She refused to take a subservient role in their marriage.

Recent Examples on the Web

The subservient tone was characteristic of Epstein’s Norwegian network. —Ola Morris Innset, The Dial, 2 June 2026

Located on the South Island of New Zealand, the Gloriavale Christian Community was founded in 1969 by a traveling preacher with extremely fundamentalist ideas; women are subservient to men, all citizens wear uniforms, and people who leave are shunned forever. —K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 29 May 2026

According to tradition, Lilith left the Garden of Eden after refusing to be subservient to Adam. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026

Diaries confirm that life is in the details, and in its passions, all of which Ford includes, all of which are inevitably subservient to time. —Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin subservient-, subserviens, present participle of subservire — see subserve

First Known Use

circa 1626, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for subservient

• servient

Kids Definition

subservient

adjective

sub·​ser·​vi·​ent səb-ˈsər-vē-ənt 

1

: useful in an inferior capacity : subordinate

2

: inclined or willing to submit to others : submissive

subserviently adverb