lickspittle
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lickspittle
Explanation
In your class or workplace, is there someone who's a lickspittle — a fawning toady who always flatters the teacher or boss, saying "Yes, ma’am" and "No, sir," and laughing at all the teacher's or boss's dumb jokes? A lickspittle is a derogatory term for someone who is obviously trying to get extra privileges by kissing up. English has several interesting names for such people, including bootlicker and apple polisher. Lickspittle is pretty old — from the 1600s — when it referred to someone who actually licked up the spit of their superior! Yuck! Calling someone a lickspittle is definitely not a compliment!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A beat later, Perfidia barges into the office of lickspittle Col.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025
The man has always been a coward and a lickspittle.
From Salon • Apr. 22, 2022
We know that he employs lickspittle underlings and an outside network of shady characters to carry out his bizarre and erratic impulses.
From Washington Post • Oct. 23, 2019
Lord will not be missed, either by viewers or by the network itself, which will inevitably find some other disingenuous lickspittle to fill Lord’s seat on its panel shows.
From Slate • Aug. 11, 2017
The promise of gold had turned die Oldtowner into a shameless lickspittle.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
