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Synonyms for sycophant

Grammar : Noun
Spell : sik-uh-fuhnt, -fant, sahy-kuh-
Phonetic Transcription : ˈsɪk ə fənt, -ˌfænt, ˈsaɪ kə-

Top 10 synonyms for sycophant
Other synonyms for the word sycophant

Définition of sycophant

Origin :
  • 1530s (in Latin form sycophanta), "informer, talebearer, slanderer," from Latin sycophanta, from Greek sykophantes, originally "one who shows the fig," from sykon "fig" + phanein "to show." "Showing the fig" was a vulgar gesture made by sticking the thumb between two fingers, a display which vaguely resembles a fig, itself symbolic of a vagina (sykon also meant "vulva"). The story goes that prominent politicians in ancient Greece held aloof from such inflammatory gestures, but privately urged their followers to taunt their opponents. The sense of "mean, servile flatterer" is first recorded in English 1570s.
  • noun person who caters to another
Example sentences :
  • Shakespeare was a sycophant, a flunkey if you will, but nothing worse.
  • Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris
  • People will say he was a vulgar parvenu, a sycophant, a snob—heaven knows what.
  • Extract from : « The Woman Thou Gavest Me » by Hall Caine
  • The sycophant recognised the arms on the panel and collapsed.
  • Extract from : « The False Chevalier » by William Douw Lighthall
  • "Then a sycophant he is and will remain," said the Alexandrian with a laugh.
  • Extract from : « A Thorny Path [Per Aspera], Complete » by Georg Ebers
  • Though, like most of his order, zealous for monarchy, he was no sycophant.
  • Extract from : « The History of England from the Accession of James II. » by Thomas Babington Macaulay
  • He bowed and smiled—the smile of a courtier and sycophant—a smile I hated.
  • Extract from : « Vendetta » by Marie Corelli
  • Hold your tongue; you are but a sycophant, and deserve punishment.
  • Extract from : « Chicot the Jester » by Alexandre Dumas, Pere
  • If Absalom is a type of the demagogue, Shimei surely is a type of the sycophant.
  • Extract from : « Wit and Humor of the Bible » by Marion D. Shutter
  • "Don't go any nearer to them," said the Judge, in the tones of a sycophant.
  • Extract from : « The ghosts of their ancestors » by Weymer Jay Mills
  • Now, to my thinking, the most loathsome of all characters is a sycophant.
  • Extract from : « The Bridling of Pegasus » by Alfred Austin
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019