toadying 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of toadyingnext
as in grovelling

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

toadying

2 of 3

noun

as in fawning

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

toadying

3 of 3

verb

present participle of toady
as in fussing
to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior a satirical novel about an amoral go-getter who toadies his way to the top of the corporate ladder

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for toadying
  1. obsequious
  2. sycophancy
  3. sycophantic
  4. worship
  5. adoration
  6. servile
  7. idolatry
  8. subservient
Adjective
  • 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
Definition of obsequious
Noun
  • A certain amount of sycophancy toward the more bizarre elements of the coalition is also common.
    Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 25 Nov. 2024
  • Other tests showed that models can show what’s called a sycophancy bias — the tendency of an LLM to backpedal on a correct answer to please the user.
    Stephen Ornes, Quanta Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024
Definition of sycophancy
Adjective
  • Guillermo has gone from a sycophantic servant, dreaming of the day his master would turn him into a mythical creature of the night, to an out-and-proud vampire hunter who lives alongside his former lieges.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Its members' firm repudiation of the unqualified and clownish Matt Gaetz for attorney general shows that its members can still stiffen their sinews and summon up the courage to curb President-elect Donald Trump's appetite for surrounding himself with sycophantic boobs.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2024
Definition of sycophantic
Noun
  • She is described in her obituary as an avid reader who loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.
    Jessica Van Egeren, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024
  • The disc featured 19 tracks of worship music imbued with rock, rap and Latin influences.
    Yacob Reyes, Axios, 18 Dec. 2024
Definition of worship
Noun
  • Social Media Reacts to Richard's Charm The TikTok video sparked a wave of adoration for Richard and the driver's unique approach to customer satisfaction.
    Lydia Patrick, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
  • That adoration was not diluted during the four successive Premier League matches Tonali started this September and October, despite Newcastle’s failure to win any of them and the subsequent questions about whether the balance of the XI was negatively affected by his inclusion.
    Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
Definition of adoration
Adjective
  • His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.
    Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
  • These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.
    Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
Definition of servile
Noun
  • But as a Christian, the bigger threat in the U.S. now seems to be Evangelical idolatry—this tendency of many Christians to turn a political candidate into an idol, particularly one who has proven himself so thoroughly unfit as Donald Trump.
    Donovan McAbee, TIME, 28 Oct. 2024
  • People begin drifting to certain games or consoles, staring intently at a wall of idolatry.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2024
Definition of idolatry
Adjective
  • This sci-fi film takes viewers to a near future where our main character Nick (Michele Morrone), a construction foreman struggling to manage his family while his wife Maggie (Madeline Zima) battles a serious illness, turns to a subservient robot named Alice (played by Fox) for help.
    Travis Bean, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
  • Male fantasies à la the movie Her abound, centered around a subservient love interest with no bodily or emotional needs of her own.
    Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 27 Nov. 2024
Definition of subservient
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near toadying

toady

toadying

toadyish

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Toadying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toadying. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...