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sycophant - 6 dictionary results

syc⋅o⋅phant

  [sik-uh-fuhnt, -fant, sahy-kuh-]
Use sycophant in a Sentence
–noun
a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.
Origin:
1530–40; < L sȳcophanta < Gk sȳkophántēs informer, equiv. to sŷko(n) fig + phan- (s. of phaínein to show) + -tēs agentive suffix

Related forms:
syc⋅o⋅phan⋅tic, syc⋅o⋅phan⋅ti⋅cal, syc⋅o⋅phant⋅ish, adjective
syc⋅o⋅phan⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, syc⋅o⋅phant⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
syc⋅o⋅phant⋅ism, noun

Synonyms:
toady, yes man, flunky, fawner, flatterer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sycophant
syc·o·phant   (sĭk'ə-fənt, sī'kə-)   
n.  A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.

[Latin sȳcophanta, informer, slanderer, from Greek sūkophantēs, informer, from sūkon phainein, to show a fig (probably originally said of denouncers of theft or exportation of figs) : sūkon, fig + phainein, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.]
syc'o·phan'tic (-fān'tĭk), syc'o·phan'ti·cal (-tĭ-kəl) adj., syc'o·phan'ti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sycophant

Syc"o*phant\, n. [L. sycophanta a slanderer, deceiver, parasite, Gr. ? a false accuser, false adviser, literally, a fig shower; ? a fig + ? to show: cf. F. sycophante. The reason for the name is not certainly known. See Phenomenon.]

1. An informer; a talebearer. [Obs.] "Accusing sycophants, of all men, did best sort to his nature." --Sir P. Sidney.

2. 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.

Sycophant

Syc"o*phant\, v. t. [CF. L. sycophantari to deceive, to trick, Gr. ?.]

1. To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.]

Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary. --Milton.

2. To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Sycophant

Syc"o*phant\, v. i. To play the sycophant.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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sycophant 
1537 (in L. form sycophanta), "informer, talebearer, slanderer," from L. sycophanta, from Gk. sykophantes, originally "one who shows the fig," from sykon "fig" + phanein "to show." "Showing the fig" was a vulgar gesture made by sticking the thumb between two fingers, a display which vaguely resembles a fig, itself symbolic of a cunt (sykon also meant "vulva"). The story goes that prominent politicians in ancient Greece held aloof from such inflammatory gestures, but privately urged their followers to taunt their opponents. The sense of "mean, servile flatterer" is first recorded in Eng. 1575.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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