FLUNKEYS Synonyms: 91 Similar and Opposite Words

flunkies

noun

variants also flunkeys

plural of flunky

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

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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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flunkies

Noun

Lawyers are, in his formulation, both loyal servants of their clients and public citizens with special responsibility for the quality of justice.

— Joseph Andrew, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
The couple luxuriated in a 25-room mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, staffed by six servants.

— Ron Chernow, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026

Definition of servants

Noun

Perhaps if this was any team other than the Yankees — where all of Hal Steinbrenner’s minions appear to have lifetime contracts — Aaron Boone’s status as manager would be coming under intense scrutiny about now.

— Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 4 July 2026
In the chaos, the minions eat some spaghetti just like in Lady and the Tramp (1955).

— Barry Levitt, Time, 3 July 2026

Definition of minions

Noun

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
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

Definition of lackeys

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

Definition of toadies

Noun

And so does Jesse — particularly the latest installment, which sees the iconic henchmen find themselves as accidental stars in 1920s Hollywood.

— Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
Now, Lilith must team up with Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) to fight biker trolls, outrun evil henchmen, and escape the Screaming Woods on an epic quest to save the kingdom, but most importantly, their relationship.

— Rick Ellis, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

Definition of henchmen

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

Definition of lickspittles

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

Definition of bootlickers

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flunked

flunkies

flunking

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“Flunkies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flunkies. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of flunkies

noun

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