as in flunkey
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a partisan news program whose host is more of a lickspittle for the White House than a serious journalist
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 lickspittle
Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.
—
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
Of course, the real blame for all this goes to the gutless lickspittles in the U.S. Senate, who, in an impeachment proceeding just weeks after the insurrection, could have restored the nation’s dignity and voted to bar Trump from ever running again.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
What's more, Louis DeJoy, the Trump lickspittle and longtime Republican donor (with a massive financial conflict of interest) now serving as postmaster general, has royally messed up mail service.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 11 Aug. 2020
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
Of course, the real blame for all this goes to the gutless lickspittles in the U.S. Senate, who, in an impeachment proceeding just weeks after the insurrection, could have restored the nation’s dignity and voted to bar Trump from ever running again.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
What's more, Louis DeJoy, the Trump lickspittle and longtime Republican donor (with a massive financial conflict of interest) now serving as postmaster general, has royally messed up mail service.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 11 Aug. 2020
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lickspittle
Noun
-
This is the grim lesson—one that the ambitious sycophants who attach themselves to power have always been slow to learn—of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy, a series of fat, dense novels that filter the reign of Henry VIII through the rise and fall of his Machiavellian advisor, Thomas Cromwell.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Heslov said that Clooney has made sure to keep his old friends close, so he isn’t surrounded by sycophants.—
Thea Traff,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
As of this writing, tens of thousands of Americans in government roles have already been fired by Elon’s tech toadies.—
Kara Swisher,
The Atlantic,
9 Mar. 2025
-
But at the end of the Cold War, state sponsors and their toadies lost ground.—
Audrey Kurth Cronin,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Dec. 2011
Noun
-
At just 17 years old, Amanda Seyfried booked her breakout role in Mean Girls as Regina George’s bimbo minion who could predict the weather with her boobs.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
15 Mar. 2025
-
Could there be any truth to the fan theory that Greg was hiding on the boat when Tanya killed Quentin and his minions, then fatally conked herself in the head while escaping?—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
-
Sara Fischer, Dave Lawler Dec 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy Media's suck-up moment Fearing political retribution and strained by new business challenges, media companies that once covered President-elect Trump with skepticism — and in many cases, disdain — are reconsidering their approach.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
His other performances included as Robert De Niro’s nasty henchman in Michael Mann’s Heat (1995); as Marlon Brando’s insane assistant in John Frankenheimer’s The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) and as the suave crook Simon Templar in Phillip Noyce’s The Saint (1997).—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Apr. 2025
-
The not-so-grand finale of Reacher’s third season opens with a gun battle that leaves an entire ATF Special Response Team dead, along with a commensurate number of henchmen that Quinn flew in from somewhere.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Thanks to modern medicine, people in the United States rarely deal with parasites.—
Breanne Hayes Haney,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2025
-
This LifeStraw, 20 percent off for a pack of two, is proven to filter out 99.9 percent of waterborne bacteria and parasites.—
Olivia Young,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
-
Jin and his other flunkies excuse themselves, but Tetsu keeps Botan there to question him.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
24 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Lickspittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lickspittle. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share