as in flunkey
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
be careful not to mistake sycophants for true friends
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sycophant
Ars Technica, 5 Feb. 2025
Where American power is for sale to the biggest sycophants?
—S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
Those vibes were often dictated by the sycophants in Musk’s orbit.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2025
Triangle of Sadness parodied the wealthy class and their out-of-touch behaviors; The Menu gorged on monstrous culinary world personalities and the sycophants who feed them; and most recently, Blink Twice confronted the protective bubbles shielding powerful men from accountability.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sycophant
Noun
However, Elez seems closely linked to Musk, who is often criticized for surrounding himself with sycophants.
—Ars Technica, 5 Feb. 2025
Where American power is for sale to the biggest sycophants?
—S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
Those vibes were often dictated by the sycophants in Musk’s orbit.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2025
Triangle of Sadness parodied the wealthy class and their out-of-touch behaviors; The Menu gorged on monstrous culinary world personalities and the sycophants who feed them; and most recently, Blink Twice confronted the protective bubbles shielding powerful men from accountability.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sycophant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sycophant
Adjective
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Already, and despite its shortfalls such as hallucinations – when chatbots make up inexistent facts, and sycophantic behavior – when the bot gives a particular answer to elicit the user’s approval, AI has been shown to outperform CEO’s on a range of tasks.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
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Research conclusively shows that sycophantic AI behavior undermines trust and meaningful interaction.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Most Americans don’t get it either, or why previous senators backing Ukraine have become toadies to Trump’s outrageous claims against the Ukrainians.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
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After Zelenskyy wouldn’t genuflect, Trump got toadies Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz to ask the Ukrainian to leave.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
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Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
22 July 2024
Noun
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But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
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Sara Fischer, Dave Lawler Dec 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy Media's suck-up moment Fearing political retribution and strained by new business challenges, media companies that once covered President-elect Trump with skepticism — and in many cases, disdain — are reconsidering their approach.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Tatlin scholarship is whispery on his time in Kyiv, for the excellent reason that Stalin’s minions torched most evidence of it.—
Jackson Arn,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025
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But the largest driving force behind the return-to-work mandates, suggest the early scholarship, is CEOs feeling lonely without minions.—
Dan Vergano,
Scientific American,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The actor is a longtime fan of the French soccer team.—
Hannah Malach,
WWD,
10 Mar. 2025
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Yet for the legions of O’Neill fans eagerly waiting for the journalist to expand on the theories introduced in his book, the film probably won’t be satisfying.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Raq is a master manipulator who claims to value loyalty above all else, especially from her henchmen brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou (Malcolm Mays) and her only son, yet constantly destabilizes the three of them with selfish mind games and power plays that genuinely harm them.—
Robyn Bahr,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Mar. 2025
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One whack and the burly guard or crime boss henchman is knocked out for the rest of the caper.—
Rich Heldenfels,
Boston Herald,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In addition, old nests can also harbor parasites and pathogens that might be harmful to the birds.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 Mar. 2025
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These real-world parasites have inspired everything from horror movies to the hit HBO series The Last of Us, which envisions a future where a mutated Cordyceps fungus jumps to humans.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Sycophant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sycophant. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.
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