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 concern is that the president’s attacks on the Fed could result in a central bank that’s more subservient to the White House. —Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026

Lynch is in a subservient power-sharing arrangement with coach Kyle Shanahan. —Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 12 Jan. 2026

Marczak told the Washington Examiner that the Trump administration sees the current government — decapitated by the abduction of Maduro — as sufficiently subservient and the complicated process of regime change as too costly. —Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026

With the other branches of government subservient to the executive, power becomes absolute. —Robert Kesten, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 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