Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "slavish" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "slavish" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "slavish", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "slavish" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
4 total sentences available.
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.
Source: tatoeba (2520809)
“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.”
Source: wiktionary
a slavish reproduction
Source: wiktionary
slavish observation of rules
Source: wiktionary
Closest matches include submissive, abused, apish, base, browbeaten.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.