servile

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɝvəl/ UK /ˈsɜːvaɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
excessively willing to please or obey; submissively obsequious

His servile manner toward the boss irritated his colleagues.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · excessively willing to... obsequious subservient slavish sycophantic fawning menial

Opposites

domineering masterful assertive imperious

Word family

Forms servilely

Derived forms servilityservilelyservileness

Related forms serf servant serve servitude

Etymology

From Latin servilis ('of a slave'), from servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

servilis Latin servus Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# servile

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɝvəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɜːvaɪl/

## Meanings
1. excessively willing to please or obey; submissively obsequious

## Examples
- His servile manner toward the boss irritated his colleagues.

## Synonyms
- obsequious
- subservient
- slavish
- sycophantic
- fawning
- menial

## Antonyms
- domineering
- masterful
- assertive
- imperious

## Derived Forms
- servility
- servilely
- servileness

## Related Forms
- serf
- servant
- serve
- servitude

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: servilis
- Root: servus

## Etymology
From Latin servilis ('of a slave'), from servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

## AI Etymology
Servile comes from Latin servilis ('of a slave'), from servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin. The historical chain includes Latin servilis and Latin servus. The quoted older senses, "of a slave" and "slave, servant", supply the semantic anchors for servile. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word servile carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "excessively willing to please or obey; submissively obsequious". English derivatives include servility, servilely, and servileness; related English forms include serf, servant, serve, and servitude. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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servile

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