How to Use obsequious in a Sentence

obsequious

adjective
  • The obsequious villagers touched their caps but sneered behind her back.
    "George Sand", 1980
  • She's constantly followed by obsequious assistants who will do anything she tells them to.
  • Those are the obsequious words the puppeteer has been waiting to hear.
    Perri Klass, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022
  • The Indianan is the master of the obsequious tribute that Trump loves.
    Stephen Collinson, CNN, 2 Oct. 2019
  • At the opening, politicians lined up to flatter the company in the most obsequious terms.
    Sarah Leonard, The New Republic, 2 Apr. 2021
  • In their wildest dreams, Big Oil could not have imagined a more obsequious servant.
    Mark Warren, Esquire, 17 June 2010
  • Brooks is Joel Cairo, the obsequious little fellow who follows in the wake of the wealthy Caspar Gutman.
    Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 13 Apr. 2012
  • Then, of course, there were the obsequious lawyers and bankers who helped guard fortunes and reputations.
    Simon Usborne, Town & Country, 15 June 2022
  • The crews also catch the obsequious obsequies of comrades in the street, filmed in every corner of the evil empire.
    Kyle Smith, National Review, 9 May 2021
  • Part of that is due to the city’s obsequious contract with the developer, which gives Hollywood Park 25 years — yes, 25 years — to get the work done.
    Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2022
  • In the face of mass disrespect, such obsequious pandering goes a long way.
    Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2021
  • Moon is no stranger to lavishing Trump with obsequious praise.
    Adam K. Raymond, Daily Intelligencer, 10 Jan. 2018
  • Also notable is the service, which is warm and discreet rather than obsequious.
    Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 8 Mar. 2022
  • To make that happen, George P. Bush kissed up to Trump in the most obsequious -- and embarrassing -- ways possible.
    Chris Cillizza, CNN, 27 July 2021
  • This gambit was a trap, even if the obsequious TV guy didn’t intend it that way, and Connally easily slipped it.
    Carl M. Cannon, Orange County Register, 28 May 2017
  • Being obsequious is a means to his own end: finding his mother and avenging his father.
    Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2023
  • As Trump’s vice president, Pence was loyal to a point critics called obsequious.
    Mark Niquette, Bloomberg.com, 7 June 2023
  • At a Kremlin meeting over the weekend, Putin’s frustration at the Ukrainians for being less obsequious than Trump boiled over, sources said.
    Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
  • They must be poised and respectful without coming off as obsequious suck-ups.
    Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, 18 Apr. 2017
  • Billy was just an obsequious celebrity hanger-on and minor Today show host when The Trump Tape surfaced.
    Jack Holmes, Esquire, 14 Oct. 2016
  • The majority of the comments were flattering to Bosworth, even obsequious.
    Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2021
  • Dour versus obsequious The half-hour call started with pleasantries but quickly took a sharp detour.
    Nancy Benac, The Denver Post, 30 Nov. 2019
  • There are no hushed voices, white tablecloths or obsequious waiters.
    Isabelle Kliger, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
  • And would Pence, a man who had shown himself until this very day to be one of the most obsequious public officials in American history, have dared refuse?
    Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 6 Jan. 2021
  • Perhaps he has been misled by his obsequious reception in the Florida fever swamps into thinking that the whole country lives up his street.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
  • The best parts of the film—the visual sound and the visual style—are directly borrowed from its predecessor, though denuded of their 1980s-ness: goodbye shoulder pads and obsequious synths.
    Christian Lorentzen, New Republic, 7 Oct. 2017
  • As vice president, Pence was Trump's notably obsequious wingman, heaping praise on his boss and stepping far from the spotlight whenever the president was in the same space.
    Michael D'antonio, CNN, 25 May 2022
  • Relationships tended to flow one way — with obsequious public displays by heads of state and government trying to get on Trump’s good side.
    Zeke Miller, chicagotribune.com, 18 June 2021
  • The job called for a door-to-door salesman’s approach, requiring the nerfoo to adopt patronizing or outright obsequious poses.
    Jeremy Miller, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Macfadyen has been celebrated for his work as the scheming, obsequious Tom in Succession, which had the premiere of its fourth and final season on Sunday.
    Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obsequious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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