slavish
/ˈsleɪvɪʃ/adjective
slavish is spelled S-L-A-V-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, slavish means “In the manner of a slave; abject” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in slavish?
| Letters | 7: S-L-A-V-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 75,877th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is slavish?
Slavish appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce slavish?
- /ˈsleɪvɪʃ/
Slavish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-slavish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of slavish
- more slavish comparative
- most slavish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slavish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
In the manner of a slave; abject.
- 2
Utterly faithful; totally lacking originality, creativity, or reflection.
a slavish reproduction
adjective
- 1
archaicPertaining to Slavs or the Slavic languages; Slavic.
The great Russians were first merely a mixture of Swedish, Finnish and Slavish peoples.
noun
- 1
Any of various Slavic languages, especially Old Church Slavonic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slavish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in the manner of a slave:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.