as in fawning
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for genuflecting
Adjective
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have bristled at French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic dualities, standing up to Trump in public while courting him in private with obsequious texts.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Jan. 2026 -
This approach is best exemplified by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who in June sent Trump an obsequious message praising his Middle Eastern diplomacy and lauding him for getting European countries to spend more on defense.—
Philip H. Gordon,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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After all, the deal — for a long-forsaken project, an action-comedy franchise starring two aging stars — underscores the servile fealty of new Paramount owners Larry and David Ellison amid their recent maneuvering to take control of TikTok and Warner Bros. Discovery (the latter seemingly futile).—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Dec. 2025
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Earlier this year, my colleague and bud Kelefa Sanneh suggested that music critics, as a lot, have gone soft—becoming submissive, overly agreeable, and, in some cases, nearly servile.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Chatbots can often be sycophantic or agree with users’ viewpoints to a fault.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Essentially worshipful in its view of Lee, the movie never acknowledges that one person drawing so much unbridled admiration is more than a little creepy.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
25 Dec. 2025
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But while his adoration does have an erotic edge to it (see: The Shape of Water), on the whole, his affection for the misshapen and the outcast among us is more worshipful than overtly lusty.—
Katie Rife,
Vulture,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Tuna says everyone who has come to see the art has left feeling a bit more reverent.—
Marah Eakin,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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The moment set a solemn but reverent tone, equally grand and intimate.—
Maliha Shoaib,
Vogue,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The choice was pragmatic as much as reverential.—
Andy Hazel,
IndieWire,
16 Jan. 2026
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The conversation has turned almost reverential, sometimes even a bit pretentious.—
Tiana Randall,
Forbes.com,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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What historians and theologians know about Francis comes primarily from his own writings and hagiographic texts.—
Vanessa Corcoran,
The Conversation,
2 Feb. 2026
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Of course, a person making a hagiographic documentary about the production of the show for Netflix probably isn’t the world’s most neutral source.—
Sharon Adarlo,
Futurism,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Gianni Versace’s women were never so subservient.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
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The concern is that the president’s attacks on the Fed could result in a central bank that’s more subservient to the White House.—
Stan Choe,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Genuflecting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/genuflecting. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
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