Slavish
adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 In the manner of a slave; abject.
"“You have freed them from higher restraint, Halbert,” answered the Abbot, “and therein taught them to rebel against your own.” / “Fear not that, Edward,” exclaimed Halbert, who never gave his brother his monastic name of Ambrosius; “none obey the command of real duty so well as those who are free from the observance of slavish bondage.”"
- 2 Utterly faithful; totally lacking originality, creativity, or reflection.
"a slavish reproduction"
- 1 abjectly submissive; characteristic of a slave or servant wordnet
- 2 blindly imitative wordnet
Example
More examples"Patriotism in its simple, clear and plain meaning is nothing other to rulers than an instrument for achieving their power-hungry and self-serving goals. To those who are subjected to them, it is a denial of human dignity, reason, and conscience, as well as a slavish submission of themselves to those who are in power."
Etymology
From slave + -ish.
More for "slavish"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.