variants
also flunkeys
1
as in servants
a person hired to perform household or personal services
since I'm just the flunky who files his papers, I've no idea where he is
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in minions
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a rock star who saw through the phonies and the flunkies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flunkies
Yasmin, Tender’s briefly installed head of communications, is the first of Whitney’s flunkies to defect.
—
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
For instance, Bolsonaro’s flunkies penetrated the government agency that handled film distribution.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
The conservative dynamic duo representing the minority on the council against Wu and her progressive flunkies have repeatedly seen their proposals and bills rejected or just ignored by Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, a Wu ally.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 27 Sep. 2025
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
For instance, Bolsonaro’s flunkies penetrated the government agency that handled film distribution.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
The conservative dynamic duo representing the minority on the council against Wu and her progressive flunkies have repeatedly seen their proposals and bills rejected or just ignored by Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, a Wu ally.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 27 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flunkies
Noun
-
In Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana, jogti hijras, jogins, or jogappas are trans women who devote themselves in temples as special servants to the goddess Yellamma.—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
28 May 2026
-
As previously noted, one of the gifts of Russian greats that Saunders most celebrates is their way of locating complex truths in the stuff of ordinary lives—their towns and farms, and their families, their servants; their animals.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
Aniello, who directed both bookend episodes, replicates her own long, dynamic shot from the series premiere, which tracks Deborah from the closing joke of her zillionth Vegas set, through a backstage warren of minions and admirers, to her dressing room.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
29 May 2026
-
Your president and his minions spread war, chaos, lies and economic instability.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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After Wally springs her from the Shaw's clutches, the group manages to lure the couple and some of their lackeys into the makeshift particle accelerator trap that former engineer Sam built out of old cathode-ray tube TVs.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
21 May 2026
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Trump wants Americans to believe that his opponents are of this ilk, with his lackeys casting activists as domestic terrorists for merely showing up to protests.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Houston Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Trump’s worried sycophants probably know that the details of an eventual agreement likely do not matter very much at this point.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
25 May 2026
-
Who wants to stand with him, other than the sycophants in his Cabinet and party?—
Thomas L. Friedman,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Rarely has a president been surrounded by such an array of toadies and lickspittles, operating beyond their competence in an atmosphere of organizational chaos.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Like the most treacherous toadies from literature — Iago, Wormtongue, Tywin Lannister — Miller managed to shove aside rivals to latch onto his master’s ear and guide him toward more evil.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Launched in early 1982, the original MOTU line-up saw He-Man and Skeletor joined by heroes Teela (at this point, the only female character), Man-at-Arms and Stratos; the morally ambiguous Zodac; and a couple of Skeletor's henchmen, Beast Man and Mer-Man.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
1 June 2026
-
The remoteness of their surroundings is no accident; one of these characters is fleeing an inconvenient past, which returns with a vengeance in the form of a beefy sadist (Benoît Magimel) and his two hostage-taking henchmen.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 May 2026
Noun
-
Rarely has a president been surrounded by such an array of toadies and lickspittles, operating beyond their competence in an atmosphere of organizational chaos.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Firmly in control of the nation’s massive federal apparatus, MAGA and its Republican lickspittles in Congress have thrived on chaos.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The result of this dynamic tension of bootlickers, according to Bernhard’s narrator, is the perpetual elevation and official anointment of mediocrity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Feb. 2026
-
These are just some of the most prominent, powerful bootlickers stumbling right now on their own deceit and desperation.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flunkies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flunkies. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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