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We can thank old-time toadeaters for toady. In 17th-century Europe, a toadeater was a showman's assistant whose job was to make the boss look good. The toadeater would eat (or pretend to eat) what were supposed to be poisonous toads. The charlatan in charge would then "save" the toad-afflicted assistant by expelling the poison. It's little wonder that such assistants became symbolic of extreme subservience, and that toadeater became a word for any obsequious underling. By the early 1800s, it had been shortened and altered to toady, our current term for a servile self-seeker. By the mid-1800s, toady was also being used as a verb meaning "to engage in sycophancy."
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Examples of toady in a Sentence
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2024
Even meteorologists would face an uncertain future, given that Project 2025 also calls for replacing tens of thousands of federal workers with political toadies beholden only to the White House.
—Pat Beall, Orlando Sentinel, 28 July 2024
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2024
This is the aspect of his production that made his reputation but is sometimes denigrated as superficial and toadying.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023
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“Toady.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toady. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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