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.

sycophantic

(ˌsɪkəˈfæntɪk)

adj

using flattery to win favour from individuals wielding influence; toadyish; obsequious

ˌsycoˈphantically adv

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

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	sycophantic - attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery bootlicking, fawning, obsequious, toadyish insincere - lacking sincerity; "a charming but thoroughly insincere woman"; "their praise was extravagant and insincere"
	2.	sycophantic - attempting to win favor by flattery bootlicking, fawning, toadyish servile - submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior; "spoke in a servile tone"; "the incurably servile housekeeper"; "servile tasks such as floor scrubbing and barn work"

sycophantic

adjective obsequious, grovelling, ingratiating, servile, crawling, flattering, cringing, fawning, slimy, slavish, unctuous, smarmy (Brit. informal), toadying, parasitical, arse-licking (taboo slang), bootlicking (informal), timeserving his clique of sycophantic friends

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

Translations

byzantinisch

adulatorio

sycophantic

[ˌsɪkəˈfæntɪk] ADJ [person] → servil, sobón; [speech] → adulatorio; [manner] → servil

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

sycophantic

[ˌsɪkəˈfæntɪk] adj → flagorneur/euse

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sycophantic

adj → kriecherisch, unterwürfig

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

sycophantic

[ˌsɪkəˈfæntɪk] adj (frm) → ossequioso/a, adulatore/trice

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Was it her fault if she did not possess those sycophantic arts which her hypocritical nephew, Pitt Crawley, practised?

View in context

Our reading is mendicant and sycophantic. In history our imagination plays us false.

View in context

The BISP former chairperson said that Nisar chose respect over 'darbaripana' (sycophantic behavior), adding that 99 percent of the sycophants wont realise they are slaves to the system.

Chaudhry Nisar took decision according to conscience: Marvi Memon

Such behaviour has shown just what some of the super-rich are capable of, when kowtowed to by a sycophantic government that courts the wealthy for donations rather than hold them to account.

Sold out so Tories can beg from rich

But they didn't really think he could win, so they continued to campaign at a leisurely pace and rely on the sycophantic media to present their candidate as inevitable.

In Menachem Begin's Rise, Lessons for the #Resistance to Trump

She was magnificently miserable among the sycophantic fawning.

Queen Victoria was my wedding belle

May I make a suggestion, which will surely satisfy Alun Cairns' sycophantic tendencies: name the new bridge The Prince of Wales, the old bridge the Princess Diana and the channel between them The Camilla Channel.

Using this name could be a bridge too far

There are plenty of grovelling, sycophantic, forelock-tugging papers and celebrity magazines happy to give attention to that "other" lot, who haven't exactly been short of attention or media coverage over the last few weeks and months.

Keep it real.. Letters.

However, he is totally wrong, in my view, in saying the House of Lords is "not fit for purpose" and "packed with sycophantic cronies."

Lords is still worthwhile; Letters

Well it's happening" - Veep star Tony Hale, who plays the president's sycophantic personal aide Gary Walsh in the Emmy-award winning comedy series created by The Thick Of It writer Armando Iannucci.

THEY SAY

Perhaps if Welsh Labour were to listen to patients or frontline NHS staff, and not to their sycophantic appointees, they would be able to see the facts that are so blindingly obvious to us.

Don't waste another two years on Betsi; LETTERS

The hiring, promotion, and tenure system has institutionalized sycophancy toward those in power." And yet Paglia herself must have proven sufficiently turn-a-blind-eye sycophantic to get tenure!

Lady injustice