as in humble
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
every command was obeyed in the menial manner of someone who seemed grateful just to be in the presence of a celebrity
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in servant
a person hired to perform household or personal services
immigrants to that country faced fierce prejudice and could expect to find work only as menials
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of menial
Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Putting a tool in the hands of human workers that can automate otherwise menial tasks or time-consuming ones, freeing them to do more important work, has often been the pitch for agentic AI.
—Ian Thomas, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2025
Eric Asimov, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
Despite the national security risk articulated by politicians and federal law enforcement officials, some users see the risk as menial compared to other social media platforms.
—Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for menial
Adjective
In her lawsuit, Rivers claimed Combs controlled her sleeping schedule, mocked her eating disorder, yelled at her, and forced her to do menial manual labor without pay.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Putting a tool in the hands of human workers that can automate otherwise menial tasks or time-consuming ones, freeing them to do more important work, has often been the pitch for agentic AI.
—Ian Thomas, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2025
Noun
An oceanographer served as winemaker, while Mr. Maltese was the group organizer and cellar rat, a wine-industry term for those performing menial but essential tasks like topping off barrels.
—Eric Asimov, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
Despite the national security risk articulated by politicians and federal law enforcement officials, some users see the risk as menial compared to other social media platforms.
—Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for menial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for menial
Adjective
-
From the humble red dwarfs to the titanic supergiants, stars come in a dazzling array of sizes, colors, and lifespans.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Heading into the season, Shough's had a humble headspace.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The whole setup looks like a giant creature with an extremely dense and compact body, a long, protruding neck, and an almost-cute face — a little bit like Wall-E, and a little bit like the servant-pet-robot from Red Planet that turns on Val Kilmer and tries to murder him.—
Sophie Ansari,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Of those who stay, more than eighty per cent work in the informal sector—as domestic servants, street hawkers, porters, cleaners.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
-
His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
Doherty, 30, is playing meek flower shop assistant Seymour in the treasured musical, about a strange and unusual plant that feeds only on human flesh and blood.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
18 Sep. 2025
-
What threatened to be a meek, straight-sets exit for the 13th seed went full-metal crazy on match point down when Bonzi was interrupted from serving it out after a photographer absent-mindedly walked onto the court.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Menial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/menial. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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