servile
/ˈsɜː(ɹ)ˌvaɪl/
"servile" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“servile” is uncommon English (frequency #56,425 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,425
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Excessively eager to please; obsequious.
Corpus desk
Index EN-servile · servile · English
servile · rank #56,425 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #56,425
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH sesh
Nearest frequency peer: sesh (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “servile”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- scuff
scuff
43,580 corpus weight
- Scylla
Scylla
43,579 corpus weight
- servile
servile
43,576 corpus weight
- sesh
sesh
43,575 corpus weight
- shagging
shagging
43,573 corpus weight
- shamanism
shamanism
43,572 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “servile” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | servile |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsɜː(ɹ)ˌvaɪl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #56,425 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “servile” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
servile is uncommon English at frequency #56,425 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsɜː(ɹ)ˌvaɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for servile in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English servyle, from Old French servil, servile, from Latin servīlis, from servus (“slave”). By surface analysis, serve + -ile. The correct English form is servile, spelled S-E-R-V-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1Excessively eager to please; obsequious.
- 2Slavish or submissive.
- 3Slavish or submissive.
- 4Not belonging to the original root.
- 5Not sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceding vowel, like the e in tune.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how servile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
British “subjects” (not citizens, note) are just that: gleefully servile to the monarchy’s institutionalised inequality...
servile flattery servile obedience
Etymology
From Middle English servyle, from Old French servil, servile, from Latin servīlis, from servus (“slave”). By surface analysis, serve + -ile.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "servile", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "servile". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #56,425 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.