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timeserver

American  
[tahym-sur-ver] / ˈtaɪmˌsɜr vər /

noun

  1. a person who shapes their conduct to conform to the opinions of the time or of persons in power, especially for selfish ends.

timeserver British  
/ ˈtaɪmˌsɜːvə /

noun

  1. a person who compromises and changes his or her opinions, way of life, etc, to suit the current fashions

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • timeserving adjective
  • timeservingness noun

Etymology

Origin of timeserver

First recorded in 1565–75; time + server

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The problem is bucked to Carlton-Browne of Miscellaneous Territories, a timeserver whose troutlike face mirrors his intelligence.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many Catholic observers, nonetheless, believe Cardinal Innitzer is no timeserver but a sincere, bewildered wrong-guesser who believed that Catholicism could honestly come to terms with Hitlerism.

From Time Magazine Archive

Daring Author C�line makes Bardamu tell his story himself, lets him show himself a cowardly cynic, timeserver, hypocrite, liar, tacitly defies the onlooker to cast the first stone.

From Time Magazine Archive

"But Captain Solis is a nobody ... a timeserver."

From The Underdogs, a Story of the Mexican Revolution by Munguía, E. (Enrique)

If ever there was one, he was a timeserver.

From The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) by Froude, James Anthony

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.