syc·o·phant

(sĭk′ə-fənt, sī′kə-)

A person who attempts to gain advantage by flattering influential people or behaving in a servile manner.

[Latin sȳcophanta, informer, slanderer, from Greek sūkophantēs, informer, from sūkon phainein, to show a fig (perhaps originally said of denouncers of theft or exportation of figs or of persons making a lascivious gesture resembling a fig) : sūkon, fig + phainein, to show; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

syc′o·phan′tic (-făn′tĭk), syc′o·phan′ti·cal (-tĭ-kəl) adj.

syc′o·phan′ti·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sycophant

(ˈsɪkəfənt)

a person who uses flattery to win favour from individuals wielding influence; toady

[C16: from Latin sӯcophanta, from Greek sukophantēs, literally: the person showing a fig, apparently referring to the fig sign used in making an accusation, from sukon fig + phainein to show; sense probably developed from 'accuser' to 'informer, flatterer']

ˈsycophancy n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

syc•o•phant

(ˈsɪk ə fənt, -ˌfænt, ˈsaɪ kə-)

n.

a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.

[1530–40; < Latin sȳcophanta < Greek sȳkophántēs informer =sŷko(n) fig + phan- (s. of phaínein to show) + -tēs agent suffix]

syc`o•phan′tic, syc`o•phant′ish, adj.

syc`o•phan′ti•cal•ly, syc`o•phant′ish•ly, adv.

syc′o•phant•ism, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

sycophant - a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

ass-kisser, crawler, toady, lackey

apple polisher, bootlicker, fawner, groveler, groveller, truckler - someone who humbles himself as a sign of respect; who behaves as if he had no self-respect

adulator, flatterer - a person who uses flattery

goody-goody - a person who behaves extremely well in order to please a superior

sycophant

noun crawler, yes man, toady, slave, parasite, cringer, fawner, hanger-on, sponger, brown-noser (taboo slang), flatterer, truckler, lickspittle, ass-kisser (U.S. & Canad. taboo slang), apple polisher (U.S. slang), bootlicker (informal), toadeater (rare) a dictator surrounded by sycophants

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sycophant

noun

One who flatters another excessively:

adulator, courtier, flatterer, toady.

Informal: apple-polisher.

Translations

Schleimer

flagorneur lèche-bottes sycophante

adulatore

sicofanta

sycophant

[ˈsɪkəfənt] N → adulador(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sycophant

[ˈsɪkəfænt] n → flagorneur/euse m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sycophant

n → Kriecher(in) m(f), → Speichellecker(in) m(f) (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sycophant

[ˈsɪkəfənt] n → adulatore/trice

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

'This man,' said Mr Haredale, eyeing him from top to toe, 'who in his boyhood was a thief, and has been from that time to this, a servile, false, and truckling knave: this man, who has crawled and crept through life, wounding the hands he licked, and biting those he fawned upon: this sycophant, who never knew what honour, truth, or courage meant; who robbed his benefactor's daughter of her virtue, and married her to break her heart, and did it, with stripes and cruelty: this creature, who has whined at kitchen windows for the broken food, and begged for halfpence at our chapel doors: this apostle of the faith, whose tender conscience cannot bear the altars where his vicious life was publicly denounced--Do you know this man?'

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Yet there was none of the sycophant or fawner in Billings; ordinarily I do not wax enthusiastic about men, but this man Billings comes as close to my conception of what a regular man should be as any I have ever met.

View in context

'tis bittiful"--just like a genteel sycophant in a real drawing- room.

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Henry felt in no mood for fencing with De Fulm, who, like the other sycophants that surrounded him, always allowed the King easily to best him in every encounter.

View in context

They know from experience that they sometimes err; and the wonder is that they so seldom err as they do, beset, as they continually are, by the wiles of parasites and sycophants, by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate, by the artifices of men who possess their confidence more than they deserve it, and of those who seek to possess rather than to deserve it.

View in context

Summary: Ashok Nagar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], Aug 27 (ANI): BJP MP from Guna in a veiled reference on Monday called a woman Collector sycophant, saying that the latter used to visit every village to meet lawmakers and "kiss their feet."

BJP MP refers to woman collector as sycophant, says she used to kiss MPs' feet

Pub bore Tim Martin is a wealthy sycophant who grumbled about paying his staff the minimum wage.

Tin-pot Boris; VOICE OF THE

It may give a competitive advantage for personal growth of a few individuals, but it will accentuate a false sense of achievement and success, engendering a dysfunctional culture of unfair incentivising of the sycophant and demotivating the rest of the team members.

Yes Boss: How to deter sycophancy in your team

Pity, what a loss I see happening at the hands of a habitual turncoat, superclass sycophant and a crooked politician, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.

Railways official requests two-year leave over 'extremely ill-mannered new minister'

"There's a word for a person who would praise someone every 12 seconds," the site's Twitter account posted Thursday, before linking to the dictionary's entry for "sycophant." The tweet ended with the hashtags "VP" and "Pence."

'Sycophant' Pence provides teachable moment for Dictionary.com

By all accounts, she didn't suffer any fools or foolishness and could therefore appeal to the kinds of the intervieweesamong them Joan Didion, Jules Feiffer, William Faulkner, John Asbury, whom she counted as a close friendnot as supplicant, sycophant, or inquisitor, but as a respected colleague, an equal.

In Appreciation of Jean Stein, Chronicler of the American Fame, Who Died This Week at 83

Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos is 'a common sycophant' and someone not worth bothering with, DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos said on Wednesday.

Mudslinging escalates in Phedonos-Papadopoulos spat