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
Relevance
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
Adjective
-
Softening the strongman The film starts with the loyal and somewhat obsequious journalist Pavel Zarubin interviewing Putin at the end of his long working day in the Kremlin, at 1:30 a.m.—
Peter Rutland,
The Conversation,
9 May 2025 -
At 11:30, as the simultaneously pompous and obsequious gate agent announces the passengers above gold status, the bit, already tilting toward insanity, leaves any attempt to portray a real airport behind and dives fully into Alice in Wonderland–level surrealism.—
John Roy,
Vulture,
8 May 2025
Noun
-
The OpenAI Model Spec — the document that describes what the company is aiming for with its products — warns against sycophancy, saying that: The assistant exists to help the user, not flatter them or agree with them all the time.—
Kelsey Piper,
Vox,
7 Dec. 2018
-
Meanwhile, competitors like Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft continue to push more aggressively into the AI space, offering AI assistants (that admittedly still make things up and suffer from other issues, such as sycophancy).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
Constantly giving me positive attention, which felt, at times, sycophantic.—
Cathy Hackl,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
-
After the model has been trained, companies can set system prompts, or guidelines, for how the model should behave to minimize sycophantic behavior.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
12 June 2025
Noun
-
Praise and worship will be at the shrine, along with food trucks and fireworks.—
Post-Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
20 June 2025
-
Recent raids have targeted schools, job sites, hotels, and even places of worship.—
Faisal Kutty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
Noun
-
After the mass, there will be food and performances from local choirs, and an outdoor eucharistic adoration.—
Post-Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
-
The multimedia exposure drew the adoration of the era’s teenyboppers, who raced to spend their allowance money on T-shirts, lunch boxes and magazines featuring the face of Bubblegum Bobby, as he was known.—
Mikael Wood,
Los Angeles Times,
24 June 2025
Adjective
-
His servile defense secretary has threatened to deploy the military in other cities.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
13 June 2025
-
Bahrain is ruled by Sunnis and has a mostly Shiite population permanently restless over its servile condition.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
Noun
-
His assessment is based not on the slack-jawed idolatry of elite-media toadies, but on sources nobody else thought to ring up and poke.—
Harpers Magazine,
Harpers Magazine,
26 Mar. 2025
-
Unlike most contemporary acts subject to mass idolatry, Wolf Alice’s online presence (which, historically, has been minimal) has never been part of the appeal.—
Sophie Williams,
Billboard,
1 May 2025
Adjective
-
Women in the surrealist movement were often relegated to the role of the femme enfant – often young, beautiful women who were expected to be subservient to male artists.—
Mackenzie Farkus,
Christian Science Monitor,
2 May 2025
-
The relevance of what is happening in front of them falls subservient to rival scorelines.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Toadying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toadying. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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