Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a submissive manner; with submission; with acknowledgment of inferiority; humbly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a submissive manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a servile manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

submissive +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • "When I left Oxford," he said -- "as I told you before, I left what I conceived to be slavery -- that is, a submissively ordered routine of learning in which there occurred nothing new -- nothing hopeful -- nothing really serviceable.

    The Life Everlasting; a reality of romance Marie Corelli 1889

  • At this point the sky falls in and the editor, crying “Enough!” crouches submissively to the swaying floor, sobbing and crying like a baby pulverised by meteoric infall …

    The Odds Against Science Fiction « Write Anything 2010

  • Gregor bowed his head submissively in the direction of Rege.

    Arcane Circle Linda Robertson 2011

  • Can we reason Kate will live so submissively in a future?

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • She approached him submissively, face down, eyes hidden by hair that moved with every shift of the current.

    Her Return Michael Parker 2011

  • Is he tense and fearful with eyes darting back and forth, or his gaze looking away while he's cringing submissively?

    Sophia Yin: For Some Shy Dogs, Every Night Is As Scary As Halloween Sophia Yin 2010

  • They already had been rummaging the Latvian capital for just the right restaurant for forty-five minutes—three hours if you include the time they spent discussing it while they tossed around the Frisbee in Bastejkalns Park, had beers at an Old Town café, and otherwise submissively ingested the showcase that was Riga's female populace.

    A Bear Hunt in Riga Josef K. Strosche 2011

  • Kimpa submissively bowed her head, tears sliding down her cheeks effortlessly.

    Show Stoppah Thomas Slater 2011

  • Is he tense and fearful with eyes darting back and forth, or his gaze looking away while he's cringing submissively?

    Sophia Yin: For Some Shy Dogs, Every Night Is As Scary As Halloween Sophia Yin 2010

  • A cop threw a punch at one of the men, who didn't cower submissively but fought back, knocking him out.

    Archive 2009-01-01 2009

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