sycophant

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun sycophant differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of sycophant are leech, parasite, sponge, and toady. While all these words mean "a usually obsequious flatterer or self-seeker," sycophant adds to this a strong suggestion of fawning, flattery, or adulation.

a powerful prince surrounded by sycophants

In what contexts can leech take the place of sycophant?

While the synonyms leech and sycophant are close in meaning, leech stresses persistence in clinging to or bleeding another for one's own advantage.

a leech living off his family and friends

When is it sensible to use parasite instead of sycophant?

The words parasite and sycophant can be used in similar contexts, but parasite applies to one who clings to a person of wealth, power, or influence or is useless to society.

a jet-setter with an entourage of parasites

When is sponge a more appropriate choice than sycophant?

Although the words sponge and sycophant have much in common, sponge stresses the parasitic laziness, dependence, and opportunism of the cadger.

a shiftless sponge, always looking for a handout

Where would toady be a reasonable alternative to sycophant?

While in some cases nearly identical to sycophant, toady emphasizes the servility and snobbery of the self-seeker.

cultivated leaders of society and became their toady

Examples Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of sycophant
Noun
Other influencers, such as the Trump sycophant Laura Loomer, have urged their followers to disrupt the disaster agency’s efforts to help hurricane victims. Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2024 By that point, even Trump’s dependable online sycophant Laura Loomer worried that his campaign was fumbling. Antonia Hitchens, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024 Being surrounded by a group of sycophants can inflate risk-taking and harm judgment. Nuala Walsh, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024 Samantha barfs up some black bile, and Zoe’s sycophants eat her skin at a dinner party in a bit that briefly frames her as a Christ figure but doesn’t go anywhere. Katie Rife, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sycophant 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sycophant
Adjective
  • Guillermo has gone from a sycophantic servant, dreaming of the day his master would turn him into a mythical creature of the night, to an out-and-proud vampire hunter who lives alongside his former lieges.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 Dec. 2024
  • But traditional ideas about gender are proving stubborn in the virtual realm, starting with the AI assistants and their sycophantic feminine voices as well as those girls (French, tattooed, blonde) the app cooked up.
    Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 27 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • The high toady will be 61 degrees and the low will be 39 degrees.
    Elainie Barraza, Orlando Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Toby Jones, and Paul Walter Hauser all drop by to add their touches to an underworld majordomo, a dogged BPD Special Ops officer, a political toady and Boston’s single dumbest thug, respectively.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2024
Noun
  • 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
  • Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
Noun
  • To be sure, plenty of companies are still committed to DEI programs, and not all executives are morphing into insufferable suck-ups.
    Allison Morrow, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Back in the dawn of the Trump era — just prior to his 2017 inauguration — the line of would-be suck-ups queuing up for face time with the president-elect included a man with a distinguished name.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2023
Noun
  • Not even the dynamic duos of Joy and Anxiety, Deadpool and Wolverine, Gru and his minions or Paul Atreides and those massive sandworms could push the 2024 box office to pre-pandemic heights.
    Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Jan. 2025
  • The Inflation Reduction Act set the United States on a new green industrial trajectory that even Trump and his minions will have trouble reversing.
    Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • The late, great ace inspired the first generation of Mets fans in much the same way Wright inspired much of the current generation.
    Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 9 Jan. 2025
  • While Rae may have captured hearts and garnered fans from the very beginning with Insecure, her journey on the style front has also been enjoyable to witness.
    Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Also joining the cast are Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw, Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops and Hafthor Bjornsson as Goat Man — three of Skeletor's henchmen.
    Lawrence Yee, People.com, 21 Dec. 2024
  • That led Desmond and a few henchmen to the underground markets, unaware that Mikaela (with Keiran’s help) had rigged the place to blow.
    Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 15 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that symptoms of Guinea worm disease, caused by consuming the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, might not manifest until a year after infection.
    Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Jan. 2025
  • To some, these new arrivals were symptoms of rot – parasites attaching themselves to a dying host.
    Martin McKenzie-Murray, SPIN, 7 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sycophant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sycophant. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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