eye-servantn.
/ˈʌɪˌsəːv(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈaɪˌsərv(ə)nt/ Now rare.
A servant or employee who is hard-working or obedient only when observed by his or her master or employer. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > types of servant > [noun] > dutiful or attentive > only under eye of master
eye-servanta1555
eye-servera1626
eye-waiter1742
a1555 H. Latimer 5th Serm. Lord's Prayer v, in 27 Serm. (1562) f. 35 The most part of seruantes are but eye seruantes.
1613 N. Breton Answer in Vncasing Machiuils Instr. sig. F3v Keepe not an eye seruant within thy doore.
1682 J. Flavell Pract. Treat. Fear (new ed.) ii. 19 'Tis the reproach of the servants of men to be eye-servants.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 32 Tho' he's an Officer, he's a down-right Eye-servant, and is never so active, as in the Presence of his Commander.
1721 Weekly Jrnl. 14 Jan. 662/1 A Farmer's Dog, An Eye-Servant, a thieving Rogue, Took a fly Tour around the Kitchen.
1832 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 6 No one..will ever say, Here was the finger of a hollow eye-servant.
1861 H. A. Jacobs Incidents Life Slave Girl xiii. 106 You..are eye-servants behind your master's back. Instead of serving your masters faithfully..you are idle, and shirk your work.
1909 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 19 191 It would not be so difficult to secure the thoroughness of the real worker in place of the superficiality of the ambitious eye-servant.
1916 S. N. Robins Man’s Reach xxiv. 269 Jacob was no eye-servant but did what his hands could do with all his might.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1555