What does "sycophant" mean?
Sycophant: A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men. A sycophant will everything admire: Each verse, each sentence, sets his soul on fire. Dryden.
Additional senses
- 2.To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.] Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary. Milton.
- 3.To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.
- 4.To play the sycophant.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00