Synonyms of obsequious

obsequious

adjective

as in subordinate

disapproving too eager to help or obey someone important

She's constantly followed by obsequious assistants who will do anything she tells them to.

Related Words

• subordinate
• obedient
• dutiful
• servile
• decorous
• fawning
• slavish
• subservient
• docile
• submissive
• amiable
• controllable
• obeisant
• compliant
• gentle
• manageable
• acquiescent
• obliging
• tractable
• biddable
• amenable
• kowtowing
• governable
• agreeable
• conformable
• duteous
• placable
• restrained
• orderly
• mannerly
• law-abiding
• soft
• surrendering
• yielding
• disciplined
• repressed
• meek
• constrained
• tame
• inhibited
• mild
• teachable
• trainable
• curbed
• handleable
• disciplinable

Dissimilar Words

• mutinous
• obstinate
• stubborn
• obdurate
• peevish
• unyielding
• mulish
• headstrong
• insurgent
• wild
• uncontrollable
• dogged
• defiant
• resistant
• unmanageable
• hardheaded
• perverse
• bad
• mischievous
• pigheaded
• balky
• naughty
• disorderly
• errant
• insolent
• self-willed
• undisciplined
• impudent
• rude
• disrespectful
• impolite
• dissident
• willful
• wilful
• contrary
• obstreperous
• recalcitrant
• unruly
• nonconformist
• rebellious
• contumacious
• wayward
• refractory
• intractable
• disobedient
• restive
• insubordinate
• ill-bred
• noncompliant
• untoward
• misbehaving
• ungovernable
• rebel
• ill-mannered
• unamenable
• froward
• incompliant

Synonym Chooser

How is the word obsequious distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of obsequious are servile, slavish, and subservient. While all these words mean "showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience," obsequious implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner.

waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities

When is servile a more appropriate choice than obsequious?

The synonyms servile and obsequious are sometimes interchangeable, but servile suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave.

a political boss and his entourage of servile hangers-on

When can slavish be used instead of obsequious?

Although the words slavish and obsequious have much in common, slavish suggests abject or debased servility.

the slavish status of migrant farm workers

When could subservient be used to replace obsequious?

The meanings of subservient and obsequious largely overlap; however, subservient implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position.

domestic help was expected to be properly subservient

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of obsequious

Republicans insist Zelenskyy hasn’t been sufficiently obsequious to the United States, which is a point Vance hammered. —The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 5 Mar. 2025

There were cover stories on him and obsequious profiles. —Cory Franklin, Twin Cities, 2 Jan. 2025

Rhodes scholars have long had a reputation for being obsequious careerists, transforming themselves into whatever the elite consensus of the day deems worthy. —airmail.news, 1 June 2024

Listen to this article Mayor Michelle Wu, just a week after what her obsequious supporters hailed as a virtuoso performance before a hostile congressional oversight panel, finds herself suddenly under a harsh federal microscope. —Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 15 Mar. 2025

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