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
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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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This has become a notable concern about how AI as a sycophant is potentially impacting society at large, which could have alarming mental health consequences on a population-level basis further down the road (see my analysis at the link here).—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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He’s surrounded mostly by true believers and sycophants and able to engage somewhat freely in various forms of government dismantling and corruption.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
22 July 2025
Noun
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In the past, Newsom denounced judges who ruled against them as toadies of the firearms industry.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Naturally his reliable Republican toadies lined up to support him.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Vex can use that energy to empower herself, or channel it to conjure deadly minions that fight alongside her.—
Griff Griffin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Later in the season, Ellie — now trying to hunt down Abby to deliver the same fate to her — brutally kills Nora, one of Abby's minions.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Matthew eventually one-ups the request by losing his boxers as well and going full Winnie the Pooh, which earns him the respect of his fellow suck-ups.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
23 Aug. 2025
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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
Noun
-
The citizens of Venezuela don't deserve to live under the tyrannical rule of Maduro or any of his henchmen!—
Dan Gooding
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
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But things just continue to go wrong for both the brains of the operation (Al Pacino) and his henchman (John Cazale).—
Kevin Jacobsen,
EW.com,
2 Aug. 2025
Noun
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There, all animals undergo full medical evaluations, including testing for diseases, worms, and parasites.—
Meg Dunn,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
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The medication used to treat some parasites has also been used to treat COVID-19.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The best sequences allow for some building of suspense, like the fate of Gautama’s flunky while closing the family shop at night, or an episode when Tika is chased by her possessed mother in their house.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
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Tacoma is Seattle’s industrial flunky, the also-ran, the perennial embarrassment.—
Caroline Fraser
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lickspittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lickspittle. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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