[sub.ser.vi.ent] adj [L subservient-, subserviens, prp. of subservire] (1632) 1: serving to promote some end
2: useful in an inferior capacity: subordinate
3: obsequiously submissive: truckling -- sub.ser.vi.ent.ly adv syn subservient, servile, slavish, obsequious mean showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience. subservient implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position "domestic help was expected to be properly subservient". servile suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave "a political boss and his entourage of servile hangers-on". slavish suggests abject or debased servility "the slavish status of migrant farm workers". obsequious implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner "waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities".