1
as in imitative
using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
slavish imitations of the great masters will never make you a painter in your own right
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humble
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
the assistant's slavish agreement with his boss's every thought, no matter how half-baked
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of slavish
Meanwhile, a stylist has had to cancel his own honeymoon due to delays in the tour, indicating both slavish, life-altering devotion to the British pop star in her coterie, but also her obliviousness to such things going on.
—
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026
People who climb upward by sacrificing their integrity to slavish subservience almost always fall on their faces eventually.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 21 Aug. 2025
The film’s slavish dedication to its source material — the challenging of which would open its own can of worms — demands ignoring all potential complexity in favor of didactic conclusions.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 19 June 2025
The Red Sox organization’s slavish devotion to analytics has a downside, Lynn said.
—Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026
People who climb upward by sacrificing their integrity to slavish subservience almost always fall on their faces eventually.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 21 Aug. 2025
The film’s slavish dedication to its source material — the challenging of which would open its own can of worms — demands ignoring all potential complexity in favor of didactic conclusions.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 19 June 2025
The Red Sox organization’s slavish devotion to analytics has a downside, Lynn said.
—Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slavish
Adjective
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Since then, whenever new tools to crank out communications have become available, somebody has flooded the zone with the fastest, most imitative material that could garner attention.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
8 Nov. 2025
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It may be borrowed or coined, named after a person, inspired by a place or imitative of a sound.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In terms of all-time hero's journeys, his is up there, from his humble beginnings on Tatooine to learning of his sinister dad to becoming a Jedi master to sacrificing himself to help the Resistance.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
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But on a recent afternoon, in the basement reading room, Joshua Cochran, the library’s curator of American history, reached into one of a dozen archival boxes loaded on a cart and carefully unwrapped a humbler item — a paper cup imprinted with the image of Paul Revere’s lantern.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Adjective
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That this man’s-man tough guy becomes utterly servile in the presence of a bunch of slack-casual bazillionaires is the cherry on top of the fascist sundae.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
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Julia was the first weekly TV series that starred a Black woman in a role that wasn't servile.—
Starr Rocque,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And yet somehow, his fans don’t read these abject failures the same way the rest of us do.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
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So maybe his experience will be the abject lesson now.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The other side sees it as an existential threat that could eliminate countless jobs, suck the heart and soul out of film production, and generate dull, formulaic content that will continue to drive audiences away from theaters.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
29 Apr. 2026
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But attracting hummingbirds is probably more formulaic than that, and likely has everything to do with hummingbird nectar, rather than the divine.—
Stephanie Osmanski,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slavish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slavish. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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