sycophancy
1
9.5
- noun
- /ˈsɪkəfənsi/
- Formal
:
sicomorismo
- His constant sycophancy towards the manager made him unpopular with his colleagues.
- sycophancy motives
Examples
-
If loyalty does not require zealotry, neither does it require sycophancy.
Academic text (1999) -
Why are you becoming another outlet for GOP propaganda and sycophancy toward Mittens?
Blog text (5) -
But no amount of sycophancy can change reality.
-
But it is stomach turning to watch the media's sycophancy around this woman who we know they do not actually love.
-
Others used the slogan to signal the prevalent climate of sycophancy.
Academic text (2017) -
You know, all this relentless sycophancy is actually giving me indigestion.
-
These younger men and women are, it is said, not schooled in the "KANU culture" of sycophancy and corruption.
Academic text (1994) -
First of all, what an unbelievably embarrassing display of sycophancy from Tucker Carlson.
-
Conformity, hypocrisy, and sycophancy are all in abundant evidence.
Academic text (2000) -
Though Arkady had hated them all his life—despised them, really, because they had abused him out of sycophancy rather than evil—he was astonished at their feebleness.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
A habit of flattering and obeying a person in power to gain favor
Acting too friendly and praising people in power to get favors
Acting in a flattering way to gain favor from someone in power
To act too polite and flattering to someone in power to gain approval
Antonyms
608
3.0
Freedom from control by others, for example when a country is free or a person supports themselves
How Obsequious
- Formal
1
9.5
- Offensive
1
8.6
- Formal
18
8.4
37
4.7
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sycophancy comes from an old Greek root sykon, which means 'fig', and from a phrase that once meant 'to show a fig' about a sly accuser who wanted to get favor. So today sycophancy means flattering someone in power to gain favor.