Meaning & use

submissive

adjective·Academic

Readily giving in to the will or authority of another person, without resistance.

See it in a sentence

The new employee seemed submissive, agreeing with every suggestion from his boss.

Years of harsh training had made the animal unusually submissive.

A note on using this word

Can describe either a positive trait like cooperation or a negative one like a lack of healthy self-assertion, depending on context.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

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