SYCOPHANT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Sycophant

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noun

Sycophant n.

An informer; a talebearer. (Obs.) "Accusing sycophants, of all men, did best sort to his nature."

A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men. "A sycophant will everything admire: Each verse, each sentence, sets his soul on fire."

verb

Sycophant v. t.

To inform against; hence, to calumniate. (Obs.) "Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary."

To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Sycophant v. i. To play the sycophant.

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Etymology of 'Sycophant'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sycophant" Quotes from Famous Books

... benign one, could not have been sincere in the bitter and stinging personalities of his satires. Horace seems to be personal, but is not. Neither is Juvenal; the names he employs are mere allegoric names. Draco is any bloody fellow; Favonius is any sycophant: but Pope ...

— The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II (2 vols) • Thomas De Quincey

... hallowed the popular notion that Major Belwether was a wit. The sycophant of the outer world seldom even awaited his first word before bursting into premature mirth. ...

— The Fighting Chance • Robert W. Chambers

... old peasant in shabby clothes, and with his look half-shy, half-sycophant, but vulgarly dressed in broadcloth and bright buttons, a tall hat on his head, and a crimson cravat round his neck. His face was flushed, and his eye flashing and insolent, so that O'Shea only feebly recognised him by ...

— Lord Kilgobbin • Charles Lever

... home, and because the two other members of the committee are dogs and cowards." Mr. Graves never minced matters when he began, and his voice shook with passion. "If Mr. Errol had examined you, and you had your certificate, it might have been different. Errol is not a sycophant. Worthington does not hold ...

— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... French Government, the principal member of which was now Cardinal Fleury. It became the object of the Craftsman to hold Walpole up to contempt and derision, as the dupe of a French cardinal and the sycophant of a French Court. The example of the Craftsman was speedily followed by pamphleteers, caricaturists, satirists, and even ballad-mongers without end. London and the provinces were flooded with such literature. Walpole was described as "Sir Blue ...

— A History of the Four Georges, Volume I (of 4) • Justin McCarthy

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