sycophant
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- sycophancy noun
- sycophantic adjective
- sycophantical adjective
- sycophantically adverb
- sycophantish adjective
- sycophantishly adverb
- sycophantism noun
Etymology
Origin of sycophant
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin sȳcophanta, from Greek sȳkophántēs “informer,” from sŷko(n) “fig” + phan- (stem of phaínein “to show”) + -tēs, agent noun suffix
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 sycophant with no combat experience has to tell Xi what Xi wants to hear,” wrote Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official who met Zhang when he visited the U.S. in 2012.
It’s stale to nearly all but his biggest sycophants.
From Salon
The sycophants bestowed with medals and presidential commendations.
From Los Angeles Times
When Hussein was deposed in Iraq, the military officers, Ba’ath Party loyalists and regime-tied sycophants who ruled the roost for nearly a quarter-century were forced to make do with an entirely new situation.
From Los Angeles Times
And it is all being fed by sycophants and henchmen who have created a self-reinforcing feedback loop.
From Salon
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.
