as in sycophant
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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lickspittle
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
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
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
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
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
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
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And yet neither Congress nor the sycophants in the White House seem willing to stop him.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
-
Laws mean nothing to Trump or his administration of sycophants.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
And his toadies that go along with him are -- are subscribing to that.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Dec. 2025
-
This draft meeting resembled a bully in the high school cafeteria seeking toadies — any veneer of scouting objectivity was shed.—
Michael Hurley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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His latest lesson was giving the finger to a worker at a Michigan auto plant who yelled at him for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, thereby giving license to his minions to do the same in any conflict or disagreement.—
Bob Kustra,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
-
In truth, Musk and his DOGE minions mined Social Security data possibly for private purposes, while working to undermine confidence in the program.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Or a suck-up move to the Trump administration and its ridiculous claims against the media?—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
4 Dec. 2025
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Like many digital beings, Reps, as Replika’s avatars are known, are engineered to be agreeable, nonjudgmental, and zealously supportive—i.e., suck-ups.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Though many high-profile cases went nowhere, the case of Hitler’s henchman Martin Bormann is exemplary in showing how inefficient Argentina was in its investigations.—
Solly Boussidan,
FOXNews.com,
18 Jan. 2026
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Lawyers nationwide condemned White House henchman Stephen Miller for his false, provocative claims that ICE agents have immunity for their acts.—
Jackie Calmes,
Mercury News,
17 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
Noun
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Ivermectin, which originated as a treatment for horse parasites, gained traction on social media during the pandemic as an option for treating coronavirus.—
Will Carless,
USA Today,
20 Jan. 2026
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The team observed that even parasites lost vitamin C synthesis over the course of evolution.—
Jay Kakade
January 19,
New Atlas,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Tokyo — Japanese fans rushed to farewell the country’s last two pandas on Sunday ahead of their return to China, in a departure that highlights strained relations between the two countries.—
Chris Lau,
CNN Money,
25 Jan. 2026
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January 2016 brought roughly 700 Front Range Pats fans together.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
25 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lickspittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lickspittle. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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