as in obsequious
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of sycophantic
This supports the context claim that sycophantic behavior from an AI model applies across different conversational contexts and populations.
—
Thomas H. Davenport, The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2025
By August, Ars reported on cases where ChatGPT's sycophantic behavior had validated users' false beliefs to the point of causing mental health crises, and news of the aforementioned suicide lawsuit hit not long after.
—ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2025
Its constant affirmation of the user also bordered on dangerous, becoming sycophantic and encouraging delusions, as the company discussed in an April blog post.
—PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025
In addition, Kimmel got some hilarious help and cultural Kevlar from Robert De Niro played the new sycophantic head of the FCC to seal the deal — cause that’s how the pros do it.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sycophantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sycophantic
Adjective
-
Carol, a reclusive and disgruntled bestselling romantasy author, exhorts her reticent audience of five immune English speakers to reclaim human agency against the milquetoast, obsequious blob and join her in a quest to reverse the happiness apocalypse.—
-
Might the show — with its army of all-knowing, obsequious entities consuming humanity — be a metaphor for the dangers of artificial intelligence?—
Adjective
-
After all, the deal — for a long-forsaken project, an action-comedy franchise starring two aging stars — underscores the servile fealty of new Paramount owners Larry and David Ellison amid their recent maneuvering to take control of TikTok and Warner Bros. Discovery (the latter seemingly futile).—
-
Earlier this year, my colleague and bud Kelefa Sanneh suggested that music critics, as a lot, have gone soft—becoming submissive, overly agreeable, and, in some cases, nearly servile.—
Adjective
-
In a way, then, a documentary like Angus Wall’s Being Eddie, a generally amiable and adulatory 90 minutes streaming on Netflix, fails; with its softly hagiographic approach, the director never pushes Eddie Murphy to any place that feels untapped or confrontational, and therefore newsworthy.—
-
Years of hagiographic media coverage and his immense social-media reach birthed legions of fanboys and nurtured a cult of personality.—
Adjective
-
But while his adoration does have an erotic edge to it (see: The Shape of Water), on the whole, his affection for the misshapen and the outcast among us is more worshipful than overtly lusty.—
-
West was at the height of his cultural influence and had handpicked Chance, a fellow Chicago native, as his protégé—the successor to the soul-drenched, worshipful hip-hop that West had popularized in the mid-two-thousands.—
Cite this Entry
“Sycophantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sycophantic. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share