as in servility
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Recent Examples of obsequiousness
The obsequiousness, the sneers, the boasting, the vacant generalities, and the hand-waving bespeak fear of departing from the Trumpian orthodoxy of the moment.
—
Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
The overconfidence and obsequiousness of LLMs are training choices.
—Bruce Schneier, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump doesn’t have much to show for his obsequiousness.
—Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
For another recent client, the board’s questions about his employer’s stock vesting schedule had Bari, the client, his agent, and the listing agent go through four rounds of revisions to ensure their response nailed a just-right level of obsequiousness.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2025
Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
The overconfidence and obsequiousness of LLMs are training choices.
—Bruce Schneier, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump doesn’t have much to show for his obsequiousness.
—Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
For another recent client, the board’s questions about his employer’s stock vesting schedule had Bari, the client, his agent, and the listing agent go through four rounds of revisions to ensure their response nailed a just-right level of obsequiousness.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obsequiousness
Noun
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Japan may need to choose between accepting subservience to China and building up the military capacity necessary for independent deterrence.—
Robert Kagan,
The Atlantic,
18 Jan. 2026
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Republican subservience is slowly beginning to wane.—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
30 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The steadfast pushback against the administration might appear on the surface to be an encouraging trend, given the complaisance of the Republican majorities in Congress and weak-kneed capitulation to Trump by leaders of institutions such as universities and major corporations.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
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Yet electing to be private doesn’t amount to complaisance or complicity.—
Lesley M.M. Blume,
Town & Country,
6 Dec. 2022
Noun
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In spite of a seismic crossing of the technological Rubicon, an abandonment of the centuries-old deference to the naked eye, a codifying and calcifying of the most atomic-level building block of the sport, baseball mostly just looked like baseball.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
31 Mar. 2026
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In Syria, Russia positioned itself between Iran and Israel, using its S-400 missile system to control the skies and leveraging that control to extract deference from both sides.—
Joseph Epstein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This is a story that traces the path to justice for mass atrocity in the face of public acquiescence.—
Sheila Coronel,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
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Kelley, Offerman, Fanning, and especially Pfeiffer do enough of the hard work to make acquiescence rather easy — and the ensuing journey a worthy reward.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Obsequiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obsequiousness. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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