slave to
35
7.8
- idiom
:
ser esclavo de
- She realized she was a slave to her smartphone, constantly checking it even during meals.
- become a slave to
He's really more a slave to Arha at this point in time.
- He's really more a slave to Arha at this point in time.
- One person is a slave to lust, to sexual desire.
- So he's a slave to the schedule, not to his ego.
- You know, this is the, this is where people can become slaves to convenience, right?
- Unlike some other great powers, we are not slaves to the price of oil.
- They become slaves to money, to business.
- Can we be more conscious of the things, less of a slave to the things?
- So first, the first and foremost, success is that you are not a slave to anybody's idea.
Examples
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They become slaves to money, to business.
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You know freedom is far more important than being a slave to a paycheck.
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We are forever slaves to it.
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I was a slave to love, not to you.
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You are a slave to these people.
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We're all slaves to something.
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Therefore, you are, in part, a slave to the people making those choices for you.
Blog text (3) -
So we kind of have become slaves to this concept of convenience.
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I'm just a slave to my boss.
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But this is the very essence of the banking industry... to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals... slaves to debt.
Synonyms
101
5.7
To force a person to work for someone else and take away their freedom
62
7.7
To bring a person or group under the control of another
35
6.2
To restrain someone with chains or limit their freedom
17
4.7
To limit someone's freedom because they have responsibilities
Held with chains or by rules that stop you from acting
People that others force to obey and lose their freedom
Antonyms
How Controlled
Surface Forms
Morphology
slave + to
The meaning 'to be completely controlled by something' is directly derived from 'slave' (a person controlled) combined with the preposition 'to' marking what exerts the control; the relationship is compositional rather than idiomatic. This pattern exists in many languages (e.g., Spanish 'esclavo de'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Slave to comes from the old idea of a slave being 'owned' and forced to obey, and the to part points to what has power over them. That's why we say someone is a slave to a habit, feeling, or thing when it controls their life.