subservience

[ suhb-sur-vee-uhns ]

noun

1. the fact of serving in a subordinate position or role:

   There is no hierarchy, no dominance or subservience of any member, in this vision of the faith community.

2. a servile or excessively submissive quality or manner:

   Was I so weak that a child could reduce me to this fawning subservience—without will, without character?

3. the fact or quality of being useful, or the state of being used, to promote a certain purpose or end:

   Popular nationalists decried Irish subservience to British commercial interests, and promised to strengthen economic sovereignty.

Word History and Origins

Origin of subservience¹

First recorded in 1645–55; subservi(ent) ( def ) + -ence ( def )

Example Sentences

The parts on foreign affairs in her DNC speech and the debate — including Trump’s subservience to Putin and her promise to preside over the world’s most lethal fighting force — weren’t just “foreign policy” statements.

From Salon

Because a woman he probably doesn't even know would choose cats over a life of sad subservience to a man.

From Salon

If anything, her role as a path-breaker created expectations that far exceeded the inherent subservience of her vice presidential position.

From Los Angeles Times

He also said his party, which favours withdrawing the UK from Nato, would end “subservience” to the US, describing the UK as an American "vassal state".

From BBC

More and more women have been given a choice about how many children they will bear and that has opened up avenues to different lives, less confined to motherhood and economic subservience to men.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• acquiescence
• conformity
• deference
• orderliness
• reverence