1
as in imitative
using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
slavish imitations of the great masters will never make you a painter in your own right
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humble
showing, expressing, or offered in a spirit of humility or unseemly submissiveness
the assistant's slavish agreement with his boss's every thought, no matter how half-baked
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of slavish
Nonetheless, the film’s tension is almost immediately diffused by a slavish devotion to the facts.
—
Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025
Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
By the beginning of 1956, some American communists openly blamed the poor state of their party on Moscow’s ideological inflexibility—and their own leaders’ slavish obedience to Soviet officials.
—Jeremy Friedman, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2024
But the final opening skates through Joan dunking her face in an ice bath, arriving at the studio, and then returning home to the slavish Carol Ann.
—Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 29 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025
Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
—Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
By the beginning of 1956, some American communists openly blamed the poor state of their party on Moscow’s ideological inflexibility—and their own leaders’ slavish obedience to Soviet officials.
—Jeremy Friedman, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2024
But the final opening skates through Joan dunking her face in an ice bath, arriving at the studio, and then returning home to the slavish Carol Ann.
—Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 29 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for slavish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slavish
Adjective
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It may be borrowed or coined, named after a person, inspired by a place or imitative of a sound.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Conversations in dorm rooms and lecture halls consist of roughly 97% university-loathing and imitative protests to fire coaches and athletic directors.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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From humble beginnings of small-scale personal gardens, the company has since evolved to managing large-scale estates.—
Nia Bowers,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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In The Furious, when his daughter Rainy is abducted, humble tradesman Wang Wei is thrust into a deadly underworld of corruption and violence.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
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His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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His hair is the kind of shaggy that suggests abject neglect more than overpriced Hollywood coiffure.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
17 Oct. 2025
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Ask the tweenagers who won’t stop saying both numbers, to the abject confusion of their parents.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Similarly, structured equity entails hammering out a capital solution specific to each company; there is no formulaic approach.—
Mike Terwilliger,
Fortune,
24 Oct. 2025
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Onscreen, those priorities can translate into movies that feel at once formulaic and improbable.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slavish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slavish. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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