as in prayerful
asking humbly
hated having to go before his boss like a supplicant beggar whenever he needed some time off to attend to personal matters
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in suppliant
one who asks earnestly for a favor or gift
the new governor soon had to deal with a long line of supplicants asking for jobs and other political favors
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of supplicant
Matt Pottinger, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2024
Speakers seemed alternately angry and supplicant, aware, at some level, their efforts probably won’t work.
—Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 July 2021
Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
At best, the rulers who met in Doha on Monday act as supplicants, relying on the whims of a unpredictable US president to intercede with Israel’s leader.
—Ben Wedeman, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for supplicant
Adjective
For the first time in years, Xi appeared to have successfully positioned the United States as supplicant in the bilateral relationship.
—Matt Pottinger, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2024
Speakers seemed alternately angry and supplicant, aware, at some level, their efforts probably won’t work.
—Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 July 2021
Noun
Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant.
—Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
At best, the rulers who met in Doha on Monday act as supplicants, relying on the whims of a unpredictable US president to intercede with Israel’s leader.
—Ben Wedeman, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for supplicant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for supplicant
Adjective
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The Sagrada Família was founded as an expiatory church, meaning that it would be financed by prayerful donations from people atoning for their sins.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Pärt’s formulas, born out of long, prayerful periods with sacred texts, offer beauty in the warmth and friction of relationships: melody and tintinnabuli, word and the limits of language, sounds and silence.—
Jeffers Engelhardt,
The Conversation,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And as happens with the testimonies of the suppliants at the Asclepieion, the stelae ferry the feelings and names of these distant others across the ages to us.—
Teju Cole,
New York Times,
12 Sep. 2023
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Like other Te Deums, the work is both laudatory and suppliant, petitioning the divine for continued mercy.—
Hannah Edgar,
chicagotribune.com,
21 Aug. 2021
Noun
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In the old days beggars were drawn and quartered in that square.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
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In Havana, beggars are ubiquitous.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In the summer of 1898, when Ken left Westminster School for a solicitor’s office in Weymouth, Alan, without his brothers or his mother, went on holiday with his father.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Dec. 2025
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Police also reportedly met with a solicitor Tuesday, just hours before he was set to speak to the media about the fire.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
5 Dec. 2025
Noun
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District Attorney Spencer Merriweather on Monday also asked the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the petitioners’ claims, including looking into whether McFadden committed any crime.—
Ryan Oehrli,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Jan. 2026
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The full scope of the petitioners’ politics is unknown).—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The conservative legal group is asking for the total number of FOIA requests the agency receives, how many seek expedited treatment, how many are granted, how many invoke environmental justice as justification, and the identities and affiliations of requesters approved under that provision.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Dec. 2025
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Upon connecting with the link and entering the code, the recipient is presented with a drag-and-drop target for sharing files with the requester.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Supplicant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/supplicant. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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