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sycophancy

[ sik-uh-fuh n-see, -fan-, sahy-kuh- ]

/ ˈsɪk ə fən si, -ˌfæn-, ˈsaɪ kə- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sycophancy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

self-seeking or servile flattery.

the character or conduct of a sycophant.

Origin of sycophancy

1615–25; < Latin sȳcophantia trickery < Greek sȳkophantía dishonest prosecution, equivalent to sȳkophant- (see sycophant) + -ia -y³; see -cy

Words nearby sycophancy

sycee, sycoma, sycon, syconium, syconoid, sycophancy, sycophant, sycophantic, sycosiform, sycosis, sydenham's chorea

Example sentences from the Web for sycophancy

Alone among the servants he had no time for sycophancy or subservience.

Queen Victoria’s Secret Scottish Sex Castle |Clive Irving |August 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
To the young in spirit, the morning meal is but a tradition, followed with a certain amount of sycophancy.

Wanted: A Cook |Alan Dale
He knew that the malice was as shallow as the good will; and the alternatives were resentment, sycophancy, or a little subtlety.

Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2) |Wiliam Cabell Bruce
It is a species of toadyism that is invariably omitted from textbooks on the sublime art of sycophancy.

Wanted: A Cook |Alan Dale

But their sycophancy was nothing compared with what the bishops and clergy of the Established Church generally evinced.

A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon |John Lord, A.M.
Phillimore himself makes some very severe strictures on the sycophancy and greed of the higher clergy.

The English Church in the Eighteenth Century |Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton