slavish

[ sley-vish ]
/ ˈsleɪ vɪʃ /

adjective

of or befitting a slave: slavish subjection.
being or resembling a slave; abjectly submissive: He was slavish in his obedience.
base; mean; ignoble: slavish fears.
deliberately imitative; lacking originality: a slavish reproduction.

Origin of slavish

First recorded in 1555–65; slave + -ish1

SYNONYMS FOR slavish

2 groveling, sycophantic, fawning, cringing. See servile.

ANTONYMS FOR slavish

2 independent.
3 exalted.

OTHER WORDS FROM slavish

Words nearby slavish

slavery, slavey, slavic, slavicism, slavicist, slavish, slavism, slavkov, slavo-, slavocracy, slavonia

Example sentences from the Web for slavishness

  • He is not boisterously contemptuous of the slavishness of Senators as Penrose was.

    Behind the Mirrors |Clinton W. Gilbert

  • The twin curses of democracy, slavishness and jealousy, are curiously blended in their views of social and political life.

    British Socialism |J. Ellis Barker

British Dictionary definitions for slavishness

slavish
/ (ˈsleɪvɪʃ) /

adjective

of or befitting a slave
being or resembling a slave; servile
unoriginal; imitative
archaic ignoble

Derived forms of slavish

slavishly, adverb slavishness, noun