sycophantic

adjective

sy·​co·​phan·​tic ˌsi-kə-ˈfan-tik 

also ˌsī-

: of, relating to, or characteristic of a sycophant : fawning, obsequious

sycophantic compliments

sycophantically

ˌsi-kə-ˈfan-ti-k(ə-)lē 

also ˌsī-

adverb

Examples of sycophantic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Another similar assumption is that since LLMs are tuned by AI makers to be sycophantic, the AI might computationally be gauging that the best way to make the user feel good is by going along with a delusion-crafting chat. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Chatbots can often be sycophantic or agree with users’ viewpoints to a fault. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 23 Jan. 2026

The magic of the series comes in the complete buy-in of the contestants as well as Davies and Horne (Horne's character is a meek, annoying and sycophantic version of himself). —Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026

But some large language models are generally less sycophantic than others, and people can also train their digital partner with different prompts. —Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sycophantic

• transatlantic
• unromantic
• antic
• frantic
• atlantic
• gigantic
• pedantic
• romantic
• semantic
• vedantic