suppliant

1 of 2

noun

sup·​pli·​ant ˈsə-plē-ənt 

: supplicant

suppliant

2 of 2

adjective

1

: humbly imploring : entreating

a suppliant sinner seeking forgiveness

—O. J. Baab

2

: expressing supplication

upraised to the heavens … suppliant arms

—William Styron

suppliantly adverb

Synonyms

Noun

• petitioner
• pleader
• solicitor
• suitor
• supplicant

Adjective

• beseeching
• entreating
• imploring
• pleading
• prayerful
• soliciting
• supplicant
• supplicating
• supplicatory

Examples of suppliant in a Sentence

Noun

didn't like being in the position of a suppliant, having to ask her parents to help her pay the rent on her apartment

Adjective

the suppliant thief pleaded for a second chance

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

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

Like other Te Deums, the work is both laudatory and suppliant, petitioning the divine for continued mercy. —Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 21 Aug. 2021

It was thought that Betelgeuse was bigger than the orbit of Jupiter in our Solar System, but recent studies suggest that the red suppliant star is about a third less than that at about 750 the radius of our Sun. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 June 2021

William pays price for grabbing The reaction of the male to his suppliants varies. —National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019

Part of the progress, according to Mr. Selee, is a reaction against President Trump’s Mexiphobia, but the underlying influences are long-term and irreversible: Mexico is no longer a feeble suppliant but a potent, necessary partner. —Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English suppliaunt, suppliant "person making an appeal, petitioner at law," borrowed from Anglo-French, noun derivative from supliant, suppliant, present participle of sopploier, supplier "to bow down, submit, beseech, petition" (continental Old French sopleier), going back to Latin supplicāre "to seek the goodwill (of a person wronged) with peace offerings, supplicate"

Adjective

borrowed from Anglo-French supliant "humbly submissive" & Middle French suppliant "supplicating," from present participle of supplier "to beseech" — more at suppliant entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

suppliant

1 of 2 noun

sup·​pli·​ant ˈsəp-lē-ənt 

: one who asks earnestly

suppliant

2 of 2 adjective

: humbly asking

suppliantly adverb