🙏 A respectful gesture 🎻 Playing with a bow 🙇 Overly respectful

bowing

7.2

Showing too much respect so you seem weak

adjective
/ˈbaʊɪŋ/

: sumiso

She was seen as bowing excessively to the committee, always agreeing with their opinions.

Examples

In an effort to win favor, he adopted a bowing demeanor, always deferring to senior members.
His bowing attitude towards his boss often earned him praise for being polite.
Well, they're already kind of bowing down or showing you respect.
So that's already there recognizing them, which effectively amounts to kind of bowing to them, showing them deference.

Synonyms

deferential

vsbowing

Formal

10 6.6

Being respectful and polite to someone because they are older or have more experience

shows greater excess causing submission beyond normal polite respect

bowed

vsbowing

7.6

Lowering the head and showing too much respect to others

shows the same excessive respect as ongoing action rather than a state

Antonyms

arrogant

260 4.5

Behaving as if you are more important or better than other people

disrespectful

121 3.0

Not polite to someone, for example interrupting them

insolent

22 7.1

Rude and not showing respect to other people

Compounds

spiccato bowing

Specialized

9.9

A way of playing where the bow bounces lightly on the strings, making short separate notes

How Respectful

obsequious

Formal

7 9.3

bowing

7.2

deferential

Formal

10 6.6

respectful

150 1.1

polite

329 1.0

Surface Forms

bowing positive

Morphology

bowing = bow (transparent) = bow + ing

A standard participial adjective formed from the verb 'bow' indicating the action of bowing; learners who know 'bow' can infer this meaning.

Etymology

Bowing comes from the old verb bow, which means 'to bend down' to show respect. So a 'bowing' attitude is one that keeps bending to others, which is why it means overly respectful or too deferential.