kowtowing 1 of 2

kowtowing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of kowtow

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kowtowing
Adjective
  • But all our doctrines are subordinate to the question of who Jesus is.
    Gordon Pennertz, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Annoyed by her subordinate role at Atelier (though she’s had the job for less than six months), Kriska boldly declares that Monica is self-centered.
    Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.
    Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
  • These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.
    Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
Adjective
  • Rhodes scholars have long had a reputation for being obsequious careerists, transforming themselves into whatever the elite consensus of the day deems worthy.
    airmail.news, airmail.news, 1 June 2024
  • There were cover stories on him and obsequious profiles.
    Cory Franklin, Twin Cities, 2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Immigrants and citizens alike of all ages should be required to pass a constitutional literacy test to maintain a distinct American culture to which all alternatives should be subservient.
    Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2025
  • The movement teaches that women should be subservient to their husbands and that followers should shun dancing, dating and much of pop culture, People magazine previously reported.
    Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.
    Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2024
  • By the beginning of 1956, some American communists openly blamed the poor state of their party on Moscow’s ideological inflexibility—and their own leaders’ slavish obedience to Soviet officials.
    Jeremy Friedman, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2024
Adjective
  • His oxygen tank sat at his knees like an obedient mastiff.
    Brandon Taylor, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2025
  • Anyone who meets the gentle, obedient boy would never call him that.
    Bebe Hodges, USA TODAY, 15 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • The issue then was DeSantis’ marginalizing of Black voting strength in North Florida, forcing a submissive Legislature to swallow his map of congressional districts — an issue that’s the Legislature’s prerogative.
    Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2025
  • What’s more, the deal would very likely provoke a political and military crisis in Ukraine, which Russia could exploit to finally achieve its objective of turning the country into a submissive dominion.
    Elie Tenenbaum, Foreign Affairs, 3 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Photo : William Walker, courtesy of RM Sotheby's The Ferrari 550 Maranello sports car is remarkably docile but equally engaging on a twisty road or in the heat of an accelerative moment.
    Robert Ross, Robb Report, 14 Feb. 2025
  • The gestating women are docile and encouraged not to question the process, distracted by activities like yoga, painting or listening to music.
    Holly Jones, Variety, 10 Feb. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near kowtowing

Cite this Entry

“Kowtowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kowtowing. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.

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