subservient
Significado: Excessively willing to obey or serve others; behaving in a way that demonstrates an unhealthy readiness to comply with authority or another person's wishes.
Subservient is almost always pejorative, implying a loss of dignity or independence. It is commonly used in discussions of power dynamics, whether in personal relationships, workplace hierarchies, or geopolitical contexts. The word also has a neutral technical sense meaning 'serving a subordinate or supporting function,' as in 'the committee is subservient to the board.'
Ejemplos
- The report criticised a culture in which junior staff were expected to be subservient to senior partners. 报告批评了一种文化氛围,在其中初级员工被期望对高级合伙人唯命是从。El informe criticó una cultura en la que se esperaba que el personal subalterno fuera servil ante los socios principales.その報告書は、若手スタッフが上級パートナーに対して卑屈であることを求められる風土を批判した。그 보고서는 하급 직원들이 상급 파트너에게 비굴하게 행동할 것을 요구받는 조직 문화를 비판했다.
- She refused to adopt the subservient role that tradition had assigned to her. 她拒绝接受传统赋予她的卑躬屈膝的角色。Se negó a adoptar el papel sumiso que la tradición le había asignado.彼女は伝統が自分に割り当てた従属的な役割を引き受けることを拒否した。그녀는 전통이 자신에게 부여한 종속적인 역할을 받아들이기를 거부했다.
- Economic dependency had made the smaller nation dangerously subservient to its larger neighbour. 经济依赖使这个小国危险地屈从于更大的邻国。La dependencia económica había vuelto a la nación más pequeña peligrosamente subordinada a su vecino mayor.経済的な依存が、その小国を大国の隣国に対して危険なほど従属的にしていた。경제적 의존이 그 소국을 이웃 대국에 대해 위험할 정도로 종속적으로 만들었다.
Pronunciación
Guía de uso
Contexto: professional, academic, journalism
Tono: critical
Origen e historia
From Latin subserviens, the present participle of subservire meaning to serve under. Entered English in the mid-17th century.
Contexto cultural
Era: Modern
Generation: All ages
Social background: Universal
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