(1) Helpful or useful. (2) Usable.

Someone who speaks serviceable Spanish isn't fluent in it but gets by pretty well. A serviceable jacket is practical and maybe even rugged. But *serviceable* sometimes damns with faint praise. A serviceable performance is all right but not inspired. Serviceable curtains aren't the ideal color or pattern, but they *serve* their purpose. A serviceable pair of shoes is sturdy but won't win you any fashion points.

(1) Suitable to a servant. (2) Humbly submissive.

During the Middle Ages, most of the farming was done by a servile class known as *serfs,* who enjoyed hardly any personal freedom. This began to change in the 14th century; but the Russian serfs weren't freed until the 1860s, when the servile class in the U.S. was also freed. But *servile* today usually refers to a personal manner; a person who shows *servility* usually isn't a *servant*, but simply seems too eager to please and seems to lack self- respect.

A state or condition of slavery or bondage to another.

Servitude is slavery or anything resembling it. The entire black population of colonial America lived in permanent servitude. And millions of the whites who populated this country arrived in “indentured servitude,” obliged to pay off the cost of their journey with several years of labor. Servitude comes in many forms, of course: in the bad old days of the British navy, it was said that the difference between going to sea and going to jail was that you were less likely to drown in jail.

(1) Serving or useful in an inferior situation or capacity. (2) Slavishly obedient.

Since *sub-* means “below,” it emphasizes the lower position of the person in the subservient one. Soldiers of a given rank are always subservient to those of a higher rank; this *subservience* is symbolized by the requirement that they salute their superior at every opportunity. Women have often been forced into subservient relationships with men. A small nation may feel subservient to its more powerful neighbor, obliged to obey even when it doesn't want to. So subservience usually brings with it a good dose of resentment.

An obstruction or blockage; the act of obstructing or closing off.

*Occlusion,* formed with the prefix *ob-,* here meaning “in the way,” occurs when something has been closed up or blocked off. Almost all heart attacks are the result of the occlusion of a coronary (heart) artery by a blood clot, and many strokes are caused by an occlusion in an artery serving the brain. When a person's upper and lower teeth form a *malocclusion,* they close incorrectly or badly. An occlusion, or *occluded* front, happens when a fast-moving cold front overtakes a slow-moving warm front and slides underneath it, lifting the warm air and blocking its movement.

(1) Not shared; available to only one person or group, especially those from a high social class. (2) Full and complete.

In words such as *expel*, *export*, and *exclusive*, the prefix *ex-* means “out of, outside.” Thus, to *exclude* means basically to close the door in order to keep someone or something out. When the word appears in an advertisement, it's often making an appeal to snobs. An “exclusive” offer is supposedly made to only a few people; not so many years ago, “exclusive” housing developments excluded those of a certain race or color. If a product is being sold *exclusively* by one store, you won't be able to find it anywhere else. When a newspaper or news show has an *exclusive*, it's a story that no one else has yet reported. *Exclusive*'s antonym is *inclusive*; an inclusive policy, an inclusive church, or an inclusive approach is one that aims to include as many people as possible.

A person who lives withdrawn from society.

Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes were two of the most famously *reclusive* celebrities of modern times. She had been a great international star, called the most beautiful woman in the world; he had been an aircraft manufacturer and film producer, with one of the greatest fortunes in the world. It seems that Garbo's *reclusiveness* resulted from her desire to leave her public with only the youthful image of her face. Hughes was terrified of germs, though that was the least of his problems.

(1) A screening or hiding from view. (2) A place that is isolated or hidden.

With its prefix *se-,* “apart,” *seclusion* has the basic meaning of a place or condition that's “closed away.” A lone island may be *secluded*, and its seclusion might be what its owner prizes most about it. Presidents and their staffs may go into seclusion before making critical decisions. Monastery life is purposely secluded, and monks may have taken vows to live lives of seclusion. The deadly brown *recluse* spider prefers seclusion but is sometimes disturbed by very unlucky people.