menial

1 of 2

noun

me·​nial ˈmē-nē-əl How to pronounce menial (audio)
-nyəl
: a person doing menial work
specifically : a domestic (see domestic entry 1 sense 4) servant or retainer (see retainer entry 1 sense 1a)

menial

2 of 2

adjective

1
: of or relating to servants : lowly
a menial worker
2
a
: appropriate to a servant : humble, servile
answered in menial tones
menial household chores
b
: lacking interest or dignity
a menial task
menially adverb

Examples of menial in a Sentence

Noun immigrants to that country faced fierce prejudice and could expect to find work only as menials Adjective every command was obeyed in the menial manner of someone who seemed grateful just to be in the presence of a celebrity
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Outside the windowless offices, the anthropocene was over—somehow these hapless menials had missed its bang or its whimper—and the pre-human food chain was busy reasserting itself. Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2023 An oceanographer served as winemaker, while Mr. Maltese was the group organizer and cellar rat, a wine-industry term for those performing menial but essential tasks like topping off barrels. Eric Asimov, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023 Despite the national security risk articulated by politicians and federal law enforcement officials, some users see the risk as menial compared to other social media platforms. Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2023 Introducing artificial intelligence into your business can help you to minimize the menial. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 1 June 2022 For Angel, that means figuring out how to survive as a woman who doesn’t want to lead a menial, humdrum life. Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2022 And yet, the marketplace depends on their willingness to do menial, backbreaking labor for less than minimum wage and without benefits. Carlos Alberto Sánchez, SFChronicle.com, 27 Oct. 2020
Adjective
Black workers made up 39% of the available area workforce but just 15% of workers at the plant, and even then they were relegated to the lowest-paying, most menial jobs. Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2024 Templeton felt as if the daily menial tasks were meant to distract her from her lack of autonomy and independence, and the pressure to be perfect was bearing down on her. Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 27 Feb. 2024 Maxim was shocked to see a Black man performing something other than menial duties. IEEE Spectrum, 25 Oct. 2023 The city is wealthy, and slave laborers from the empire have taken over the menial work. Leo Barraclough, Variety, 2 Aug. 2023 But for the most part, Hirayama lives a modest life, content in doing what many would consider a menial job with the utmost professionalism and enjoying the simplest of pleasures. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024 According to family members, his parents worked long hours at menial jobs while raising their children. Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2024 Instead, it’s meant to take menial tasks off your hands. Julian Chokkattu, WIRED, 9 Jan. 2024 Living on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana’s capital, C.M. took on menial jobs and relied on the benevolence of advocates for deported asylum seekers. Justin Wm. Moyer, Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'menial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle English meynial, from Anglo-French meignal, from mesnee, mayné household, retinue, from Vulgar Latin *mansionata, from Latin mansion-, mansio dwelling — more at mansion

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of menial was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near menial

Cite this Entry

“Menial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/menial. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

menial

1 of 2 adjective
me·​nial ˈmē-nē-əl How to pronounce menial (audio)
-nyəl
1
: of, relating to, or suitable for servants
2
: lacking interest or dignity
a menial task
menially
adverb

menial

2 of 2 noun

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