as in subordinate
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior
you can try kowtowing to the boss, but he'll see right through you
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kowtowing
Adjective
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The 6th Ranger Training Battalion belongs to the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade which is a subordinate brigade of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
21 May 2025 -
The company kept the HBO brand, of course, as subordinate under the Max umbrella.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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So Alex dons a uniform, buses tables and engages in servile labor for the first time in her life.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
23 Mar. 2025
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Trump’s servile devotion to Putin becomes the new norm overnight as Republicans cower in support of Trump’s new Putin policy.—
Bob Kustra,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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
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And the obsequious fealty shown to him by the Republican Party reinforces why a president running amok should never have this much power again.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Melling conveys the paradoxical elevation of Colin’s low self-esteem through the subservient relationship with an appealing pluckiness.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
18 May 2025
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Unlike the two main parties in the United States, Fidesz holds no primaries, and it has been systematically deprived of internal diversity because all of its senior ranks are subservient to Orban.—
BÁLINT MADLOVICS,
Foreign Affairs,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Nonetheless, the film’s tension is almost immediately diffused by a slavish devotion to the facts.—
Gregory Nussen,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2025
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Yet in Kim’s slavish dedication to the Jeju haenyeo’s testimony, many questions that arise in this setting are left unexplored.—
Geoffrey Bunting,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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According to the new framing, Russia’s real fight is against the mighty United States, which wants to destroy it, while Ukraine—just like the European Union and NATO—is merely an obedient U.S. satellite.—
Andrei Kolesnikov,
Foreign Affairs,
25 May 2023
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The twist offered in this tale is that this dutiful and obedient AI proceeds to gobble up all the available resources on earth to maximally achieve this goal.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Your value lies in being pretty, silent, submissive and unfailingly supportive of men.—
Marie Bostwick,
People.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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Trump was demanding deference from Zelenskyy to show his inferior and submissive position as a recipient of U.S. aid and military support.—
Shannon Bow O'Brien,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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According to Mississippi State University Extension, lambs weigh between 8 and 12 pounds and are more docile than their older counterparts.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Apr. 2025
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Peasants have often been seen as docile and passive.—
Nikil Saval,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Kowtowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kowtowing. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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