sycophant
- A person who flatters and agrees with those in power in order to gain personal advantage; a self-serving flatterer.
In a sentence
- The boardroom was full of sycophants who applauded every idea the CEO proposed, no matter how flawed.
- A good mentor values honest feedback and has no patience for sycophants who simply tell them what they want to hear.
Usage note. Sycophant is a noun; the adjective form is 'sycophantic' and the behavior is 'sycophancy'—avoid using 'sycophant' as a modifier when 'sycophantic' is available.
Where it comes from
English sycophant · entered English mid-16th c.
From Greek 'sykophantēs', composed of 'sykon' (fig) and 'phainein' (to show). The original Greek sense is debated: one theory links it to informers who reported illegal fig exports, another to an obscene gesture; neither is fully settled by modern scholarship. The word entered English in the mid-16th century with the meaning of a flatterer or informer.