submissive
When animals live in packs, one animal is usually the dominant leader, while the others fall into more submissive roles. To be submissive is to obey or yield to someone else.
When you are submissive, you submit to someone else's will, which literally, you put your own desires lower than theirs. You can see this in the Latin root of submit, submittere, which is formed by sub- "under" + mittere "send, put."
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inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination“submissive servants”“a submissive reply”“replacing troublemakers with more submissive people”synonyms:unassertiveinclined to timidity or lack of self-confidenceabjectshowing humiliation or submissivenessobedientdutifully complying with the commands or instructions of those in authorityhumblemarked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or pridefulsubordinatesubject or submissive to authority or the control of anotherantonyms:domineeringtending to domineerautocratic, bossy, dominating, high-and-mighty, magisterial, peremptoryoffensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted powerimmodesthaving or showing an exaggerated opinion of your importance, ability, etc
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abjectly submissive; characteristic of a slave or servant“she has become submissive and subservient”synonyms: slavish, subservientservilesubmissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
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Vocabulary lists containing submissive
Looking to build your vocabulary? Then practice this list of 100 "top words" — the kind that used to be tested on the SAT before 2016. If you're a high school student prepping for the SAT, check out Vocabulary.com's Roadmap to the SAT, which focuses on the vocabulary you'll need to ace today's SAT test.
Your mission? To learn these words derived from the Latin roots mit- and miss-, meaning "to send."