servile
excessively willing to please or obey; submissive
Word origin: From Latin servus, slave.
Servile in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing servile in a sentence.
His servile flattery embarrassed everyone in the room.
His servile flattery of every superior earned him advancement but cost him the respect of his peers.
Using “servile” well
Servile means excessively submissive and eager to please, with a tone of demeaning self-abasement. It is far more negative than merely respectful or obedient.
More GRE words starting with S
to deliberately damage or obstruct something, especially in secret
an intensely sweet, calorie-free artificial sweetener
excessively sweet or sentimental in a cloying way
regarded as too important or sacred to be altered or criticized
having keen practical judgment and discernment
soundness of judgment and acuteness of discernment
most noticeable or important; standing out prominently
of a sickly yellowish or pale complexion
Questions about “servile”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.