Synonyms of deferential

deferential

adjective

ˌde-fə-ˈren-chəl 

as in respectful

marked by or showing proper regard for another's higher status

the man had the deferential attitude of someone who had been a servant his entire life

Synonyms & Similar Words

• respectful
• deferent
• regardful
• dutiful
• polite
• reverent
• civil
• gracious
• worshipful
• reverential
• obsequious
• servile
• grovelling
• sycophantic
• hagiographical
• fawning
• courteous
• subservient
• venerating
• hagiographic
• kowtowing
• toadying
• genuflecting
• groveling
• kid-glove
• kid-gloved

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• disrespectful
• offensive
• abusive
• insulting
• demeaning
• derogatory
• contemptuous
• undutiful
• disparaging
• scornful
• irreverent
• impudent
• insolent
• rude
• depreciatory
• depreciative
• discourteous
• uncivil
• belittling

Examples of deferential in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Eating has become less deferential to propriety and more tuned to personal pleasure: Meals may require us to set the table, make concessions to what our companions want, and at least gesture at balance; snacks, generally, do not. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2024

Also, life at Stalag Luft III is about to get a lot worse, with the S.S. taking over the half-dozen prison camps previously run by the (relatively) deferential Luftwaffe. —Chris Klimek, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024

Still, well into the 1960s, Pressman shows, news coverage tended to be bland and deferential to government. —Jacob Weisberg, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2019

Even assuming a Republican majority, appointees seen as excessively deferential to the White House may have a hard time winning confirmation. —Neil Irwin, Axios, 9 Aug. 2024