Synonyms of obsequious

obsequious

adjective

as in subordinate

disapproving too eager to help or obey someone important

She's constantly followed by obsequious assistants who will do anything she tells them to.

Synonyms & Similar Words

• subordinate
• obedient
• dutiful
• servile
• decorous
• fawning
• slavish
• subservient
• docile
• submissive
• amiable
• controllable
• obeisant
• compliant
• gentle
• manageable
• acquiescent
• obliging
• tractable
• biddable
• amenable
• kowtowing
• governable
• agreeable
• conformable
• duteous
• placable
• restrained
• orderly
• mannerly
• law-abiding
• soft
• surrendering
• yielding
• disciplined
• repressed
• meek
• constrained
• tame
• inhibited
• mild
• teachable
• trainable
• curbed
• handleable
• disciplinable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mutinous
• obstinate
• stubborn
• obdurate
• peevish
• unyielding
• mulish
• headstrong
• insurgent
• wild
• uncontrollable
• dogged
• defiant
• resistant
• unmanageable
• hardheaded
• perverse
• bad
• mischievous
• pigheaded
• balky
• naughty
• disorderly
• errant
• insolent
• self-willed
• undisciplined
• impudent
• rude
• disrespectful
• impolite
• dissident
• willful
• wilful
• contrary
• obstreperous
• recalcitrant
• unruly
• nonconformist
• rebellious
• contumacious
• wayward
• refractory
• intractable
• disobedient
• restive
• insubordinate
• ill-bred
• noncompliant
• untoward
• misbehaving
• ungovernable
• rebel
• ill-mannered
• unamenable
• froward
• incompliant

Synonym Chooser

How is the word obsequious distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of obsequious are servile, slavish, and subservient. While all these words mean "showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience," obsequious implies fawning or sycophantic compliance and exaggerated deference of manner.

waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities

When is servile a more appropriate choice than obsequious?

The synonyms servile and obsequious are sometimes interchangeable, but servile suggests the mean or fawning behavior of a slave.

a political boss and his entourage of servile hangers-on

When can slavish be used instead of obsequious?

Although the words slavish and obsequious have much in common, slavish suggests abject or debased servility.

the slavish status of migrant farm workers

When could subservient be used to replace obsequious?

The meanings of subservient and obsequious largely overlap; however, subservient implies the cringing manner of one very conscious of a subordinate position.

domestic help was expected to be properly subservient

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of obsequious

Schulz is obsequious, either chummily laughing along to whatever is being said or clearly waiting for his turn to talk. —Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024

What was criminal in the eyes of Putin and occasioned Navalny’s death was his work exposing the tyrant, his obsequious oligarchs and lickspittle party United Russia as crooks, thieves and killers. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 15 Nov. 2024

Sunny initially speaks in an obsequious ChatGPT-generic tone, but the robot gradually adopts Suzie’s speech patterns, softening Suzie’s initial skepticism. —Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2024

What about her incessantly supportive mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) or her obsequious assistant (Miles Gutierrez-Riley)? —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024

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