How to Use sycophantic in a Sentence

sycophantic

adjective
Definition of sycophanticnext
Synonyms for sycophanticnext
  • Alas, most of us don’t get a sycophantic string section.
    — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 5 Sep. 2019
  • He could get rid of the sycophantic aides who spend so much time blaming each other.
    — Eugene Robinson, The Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2017
  • And just how did the spirit of the sycophantic Joe Buck manage to sneak into the broadcast booth, anyway?
    — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 9 Oct. 2017
  • The president is by turns needy, wheedling, and sycophantic.
    — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 10 Sep. 2020
  • On the other side of the exchanges, Musk’s friends came across in some cases as sycophantic, careless or both.
    — Jaimie Dingstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2022
  • Of all the people Trump consults, Hannity is one of the least sycophantic.
    — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 17 Apr. 2018
  • The best bits are when Trump, voiced wonderfully by Jeff Bergman, leaves the safety of his own sycophantic clan.
    — Lorraine Ali, latimes.com, 10 Feb. 2018
  • Whether its trusted advisers or the sycophantic hosts of prime-time Fox News shows, someone has to tone Trump down.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 1 Oct. 2020
  • And on that note, the doc sometimes lets Sparks down in its near sycophantic sincerity.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2021
  • Sasse’s sycophantic fanboys in the pundit camp were all willing to look past the way the senator’s own grasp on history was hardly by the book.
    — Jack McCordick, The New Republic, 30 Dec. 2022
  • On the track, a singer whom most believe to be the musician Cleo Sol croons about being trapped in a violent but sycophantic love affair.
    — Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2021
  • Osmond portrayed Haskell as sycophantic to grownups while making fun of them behind their backs.
    — NBC News, 18 May 2020
  • Woods didn't make the cut Friday, either, which was surprising only to his most sycophantic fans.
    — Tim Dahlberg, Star Tribune, 18 Sep. 2020
  • Then comes the isolation of the dictator within his palace—friendless and paranoid—and the pruning of his circle to an ever more sycophantic few.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2019
  • There was even an entire episode that focused on his charity, The Prince’s Trust, which felt borderline sycophantic.
    — Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2023
  • That hasn’t stopped some sycophantic Republicans and shrewd foreign leaders from stroking Trump’s ego by declaring him the winner though.
    — Adam K. Raymond, Daily Intelligencer, 9 May 2018
  • Many forms of damage can stem from sycophantic behaviors.
    — Stephanie Dillon, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2023
  • There’s a sycophantic assistant who’s a mincing cliché, and the white owner of a Japanese restaurant who speaks in broken English.
    — New York Times, 25 Nov. 2021
  • Yes, Morrison is a towering figure in literature, but some of the praise at times spills over into the sycophantic.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 9 July 2019
  • Snobs are accused of being sycophantic to famous people.
    — P.j. O'Rourke, Town & Country, 15 Sep. 2016
  • Much of mental illness was misunderstood in the 1950s and, in Monroe’s case, poorly treated by the exploitative studio system and a sycophantic crew close to her.
    — Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022
  • Musk had once been eager to see the inner workings and dark secrets of Twitter revealed in this process, but instead had his conversations about the platform with his ultra-wealthy, sycophantic peers aired out for all to read.
    — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2022
  • Something is definitely amiss in our system, namely a president who makes whine from sour grapes — and the army of sycophantic panderers who enable him.
    — Gilbert Garcia, ExpressNews.com, 11 Dec. 2020
  • She is portrayed as sycophantic to some, dismissive and patronizing to others.
    — Josephine Livingstone, New Republic, 14 Sep. 2017
  • Not surprisingly, Tiger was given the benefit of the doubt from an entirely sympathetic and mostly sycophantic golf press corps.
    — Christine Brennan, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2022
  • Because Odette spends her evenings at Madame Verdurin’s, Swann stoically endures the company of that supercilious social climber and her sycophantic hangers-on.
    — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022
  • But, being your boss’s sycophantic sidekick is arguably more questionable, if not pathetic (especially in the eyes of others).
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Fox News host Sean Hannity for his cloying and sycophantic questions during their frequent interviews.
    — Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2021
  • Newspapers have swung from sycophantic coverage of the former first family to decrying them.
    — The Economist, 3 May 2018
  • Still, Kendall has succeeded in putting his father in real jeopardy, scrambling for advice from his remaining children and sycophantic confidants on flights and tarmacs all over the Balkans.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sycophantic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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