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
• uncontrollable
• wild
• dogged
• defiant
• resistant
• unmanageable
• hardheaded
• perverse
• bad
• mischievous
• pigheaded
• balky
• naughty
• disorderly
• errant
• insolent
• self-willed
• undisciplined
• impudent
• rude
• disrespectful
• impolite
• dissident
• willful
• 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

The staff is wonderfully friendly and casual, providing seamless service without being obsequious. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Apr. 2026

The millennial-Gen Z generational divide, both sides fighting over scraps of a shrinking pie while still in smiling, obsequious service to aging boomers, is an enticing hook made more so by meta casting. — Alison Herman, Variety, 16 Apr. 2026

Josh is married to Lindsay (Carey Mulligan), an upper-crust Brit who has all the external status markers that Josh lacks, but perhaps not his obsequious gifts or ambition. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026

Trump’s Cabinet meetings might as well be filmed in North Korea what with the obsequious pandering before one of them dares speak. — Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026

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