as in humble
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
had always maintained a servile attitude around people with money
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of servile
That this was news was hard to believe, since complaints about servile female voices had been made not for years but for decades.
—
Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.
—Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Some Hawaiian cultural experts say aloha is a complex and fluid idea, too often misconstrued as a sweet and servile way of tolerating visitors.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2023
These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.
—Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
See All Example Sentences for servile
Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.
—Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Some Hawaiian cultural experts say aloha is a complex and fluid idea, too often misconstrued as a sweet and servile way of tolerating visitors.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2023
These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.
—Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
See All Example Sentences for servile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for servile
Adjective
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Bold hues are the name of the game, whether this means going for the kind of saturated, chili pepper–adjacent red that flooded the runways of labels like Ferragamo or embracing autumn’s fascination with all things deep purple, courtesy of an earrings pair that pays homage to the humble eggplant.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
13 Oct. 2025
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And Jacob, who’s so humble, Mia, and, of course, Christoph.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Even though Sunday night’s game devolved into a meek, 3-1 loss, the club is still eight wins from a potential World Series title with the hopes of a nation on their collective shoulders.—
Joe Kozlowski,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Ask the tweenagers who won’t stop saying both numbers, to the abject confusion of their parents.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
15 Oct. 2025
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An artist having a deeply real moment — or three minutes’ worth of moments — in a show otherwise characterized by an hour and a half of abject professionalism and fail-safe show-biz prowess?—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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There were dozens of other US fugitives of justice living in Cuba, many of them would-be revolutionaries that had arrived on the island thinking Castro’s government would provide them the military training to become the next Che Guevara but instead they were given menial jobs and forgotten.—
Patrick Oppmann,
CNN Money,
26 Sep. 2025
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Businesses don’t necessarily hire people solely based on their ability to schedule meetings, fill out paperwork or submit expense reports, even though these menial tasks can take up a significant portion of an employee’s typical workday.—
Rohan Joshi,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Servile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/servile. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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