Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - subservient

 adjective  Etymology: Latin ~-, subserviens, present participle of subservire  Date: circa 1626  1. useful in an inferior capacity ; subordinate  2. serving to promote some end  3. obsequiously submissive ; truckling  • ~ly adverb Synonyms:  ~, servile, slavish, obsequious mean showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience. ~ implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position domestic help was expected to be properly ~. servile suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave a political boss and his entourage of servile hangers-on. slavish suggests abject or debased servility the slavish status of migrant farm workers. obsequious implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.