sycophant
sycophant is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 4 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.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.
- 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.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- adulator
- archtraitor
- bad
- barrator
- betrayer
- blackguard
- claqueur
- clawback
- clothing
- conspirator
- courtier
- dirty
- doer
- earwig
- encomiast
- eulogist
- flaneur
- flatterer
- genus
- grass
- hanger-on
- knave
- laudator
- man
- mischief-maker
- optimist
- parasite
- pet
- puffer
- rascal
- recreant
- renegade
- reptile
- rogue
- serpent
- servility
- shyster
- snake
- sneak
- squealer
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Reverse-dictionary questions
Definition-first questions whose answer is sycophant.
- What is 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 called?
- What is to inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.] Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary. Milton called?
- What is to play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously called?
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/sycophant
- Steward: Jason Burns