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
The Red Sox organization’s slavish devotion to analytics has a downside, Lynn said.
—
Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
Congressional oversight remains the primary check, but with Republicans controlling both chambers and illustrating a slavish devotion to Trump, impeachment is politically unrealistic regardless of legal merit.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
Nonetheless, the film’s tension is almost immediately diffused by a slavish devotion to the facts.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025
Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
Congressional oversight remains the primary check, but with Republicans controlling both chambers and illustrating a slavish devotion to Trump, impeachment is politically unrealistic regardless of legal merit.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
Nonetheless, the film’s tension is almost immediately diffused by a slavish devotion to the facts.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025
Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slavish
Adjective
-
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
-
Despite the win, Akey remained humble about her performance.—
Jasmine Arenas,
CBS News,
8 Feb. 2026
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But humble alpine outpost, this is not.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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After all, the deal — for a long-forsaken project, an action-comedy franchise starring two aging stars — underscores the servile fealty of new Paramount owners Larry and David Ellison amid their recent maneuvering to take control of TikTok and Warner Bros. Discovery (the latter seemingly futile).—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Dec. 2025
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Earlier this year, my colleague and bud Kelefa Sanneh suggested that music critics, as a lot, have gone soft—becoming submissive, overly agreeable, and, in some cases, nearly servile.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Throughout the series, characters in bigger bodies are depicted as abject, undesirable, and ill.—
Virgie Tovar,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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He was born into relative monetary comfort while I was born into massive dysfunction followed by years of abject poverty and homelessness.—
Douglas Mackinnon,
Boston Herald,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The biggest one is that the team has reworked how victories are achieved so that campaigns feel less formulaic, adhering to the goals of the age.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
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But neither the writers nor the actors are interested in anything so formulaic.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slavish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slavish. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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