as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
a satirical novel about an amoral go-getter who toadies his way to the top of the corporate ladder
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in grovelling
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in fawning
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toadying
Verb
-
Social media, then, too, was flooded with morally bankrupt leftists lauding the killing and fawning over the killer.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
14 Sep. 2025 -
Rob Reiner is back as fawning filmmaker Marty DiBergi, with cameos including Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney.—
Chris Foran,
jsonline.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The company had also strengthened ChatGPT’s mental health guardrails at various points after Adam's death in April, especially after GPT-4o faced scrutiny over its excessive sycophancy.—
Angela Yang,
NBC news,
17 Sep. 2025
-
As noted above, the emphasis was on the states of evil, sycophancy, and hallucination.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
With five blades sandwiched between two moisturizing bars, this razor speeds up the entire process (no fussing around with shaving cream), nourishing dry skin and making nicks a rare occurrence.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
-
This was the mid 1980s and tandem skydiving hadn’t been popularized yet, so his father, Roger, adjusted accordingly by stuffing carpet padding into the leg pads to stop him from fussing.—
Angelina Liu,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Western leaders have sought to paper over these inconvenient truths, including at their June G-7 and NATO summits, with obsequious efforts to flatter, humor, and cajole Trump.—
Stewart Patrick,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
29 July 2025
Noun
-
As police investigate the motive for the deadly shooting attack, metro Detroit law enforcement is stepping up security at houses of worship.—
Frank Witsil,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Pushback by viewers in Sinclair and Nexstar’s ABC markets, and the perception that the companies are kowtowing to the FCC chairman’s anti-liberal ideology, could be a factor to lead the companies to relent.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Though South Korea’s then President Park Geun-hye halted operations in response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, the new statement explicitly absolves Pyongyang of any responsibility, and has been framed by conservatives as kowtowing to the Kim regime.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
When OpenAI and Anthropic evaluated each other's models over the summer, OpenAI reported Claude was less likely to engage in sycophantic and harmful behaviors than ChatGPT.—
Emily Forlini,
PC Magazine,
29 Sep. 2025
-
In addition, Kimmel got some hilarious help and cultural Kevlar from Robert De Niro played the new sycophantic head of the FCC to seal the deal — cause that’s how the pros do it.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Gladys Knight struggles but met with adoration The adoring audience didn't need an opening hype video to recognize how special this single-show lineup was - but admittedly Knight, 81, was having a harder night.—
Piet Levy,
jsonline.com,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Thousands stomped in the bleachers, creating rumbling waves of adoration.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
22 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Toadying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toadying. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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