as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
you can try kowtowing to the boss, but he'll see right through you
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in subordinate
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kowtowing
Jeff Kingston, Time, 4 Oct. 2025
Pushback by viewers in Sinclair and Nexstar’s ABC markets, and the perception that the companies are kowtowing to the FCC chairman’s anti-liberal ideology, could be a factor to lead the companies to relent.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
The secretary accused the AAP of kowtowing to corporate benefactors while ignoring the clear evidence that such vaccines are safe for children and can prevent serious illness.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Flattering, placating, and kowtowing only seem to spark escalating demands while defiance risks retaliation.
—Jeff Kingston, Time, 4 Oct. 2025
Pushback by viewers in Sinclair and Nexstar’s ABC markets, and the perception that the companies are kowtowing to the FCC chairman’s anti-liberal ideology, could be a factor to lead the companies to relent.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
The secretary accused the AAP of kowtowing to corporate benefactors while ignoring the clear evidence that such vaccines are safe for children and can prevent serious illness.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kowtowing
Verb
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With five blades sandwiched between two moisturizing bars, this razor speeds up the entire process (no fussing around with shaving cream), nourishing dry skin and making nicks a rare occurrence.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
-
This was the mid 1980s and tandem skydiving hadn’t been popularized yet, so his father, Roger, adjusted accordingly by stuffing carpet padding into the leg pads to stop him from fussing.—
Angelina Liu,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Yasuda ordered his subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Tatsusaburo Suzuki, to prepare a report on the feasibility of a uranium project in Japan.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Indeed, allowing men but not women to have multiple spouses is clearly unequal and entwined with patriarchal ideology that positions women as subordinate or inferior to men.—
David W. Lawson,
The Conversation,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But there were – among the fawning compliments and the conviction an elusive peace was near – bits of good news for Ukraine.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
-
But on the scoreboard and perhaps in the eyes of football fans and perhaps even the still-fawning North Carolina administration?—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
-
His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
Western leaders have sought to paper over these inconvenient truths, including at their June G-7 and NATO summits, with obsequious efforts to flatter, humor, and cajole Trump.—
Stewart Patrick,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
29 July 2025
Adjective
-
Some criticized the image for promoting a regressive characterization of a subservient woman.—
Paula Mejía,
The Atlantic,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Their days are fully structured so they are used to being subservient.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Naturally, the post attracted over 16,000 comments of women drooling over him.—
Essence,
Essence,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Well, then it’s being stolen right out from under its retracting proboscis, which is actually just another drooling head that lives in its mouth.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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People who climb upward by sacrificing their integrity to slavish subservience almost always fall on their faces eventually.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
21 Aug. 2025
-
The film’s slavish dedication to its source material — the challenging of which would open its own can of worms — demands ignoring all potential complexity in favor of didactic conclusions.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kowtowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kowtowing. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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