as in flunkey
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a partisan news program whose host is more of a lickspittle for the White House than a serious journalist
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lickspittle
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lickspittle
Noun
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Research shows that psychological safety is paramount for productive strategic discussions, yet many organizations inadvertently silence opposing voices in favor of those of the sycophant.—
Tracy Lawrence,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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But, even on a team of Trump sycophants, Bondi stands out for her fawning devotion.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This draft meeting resembled a bully in the high school cafeteria seeking toadies — any veneer of scouting objectivity was shed.—
Michael Hurley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
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In the past, Newsom denounced judges who ruled against them as toadies of the firearms industry.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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What made Armani’s designs so appealing to Ovitz and his minions wasn’t just their confident power-suit cut.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
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Vex can use that energy to empower herself, or channel it to conjure deadly minions that fight alongside her.—
Griff Griffin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Matthew eventually one-ups the request by losing his boxers as well and going full Winnie the Pooh, which earns him the respect of his fellow suck-ups.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
23 Aug. 2025
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But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Those Arabs who dared to cooperate with British efforts to restore peace faced death at the hands of his henchmen.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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At the end of the episode, tragedy strikes when Robbie’s latest robbery ends in one of his henchmen and all of the drug house’s attendants dying.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Many parasites also require multiple hosts to complete their life cycles, so their presence and/or absence can reveal a great deal about the health and complexity of an ecosystem.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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To be diagnosed, a person must test positive to two tests that detect antibodies to different antigens, or a foreign substance in the body like toxins, bacteria, chemicals or viruses, of the parasite, the CDC said.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Miami Herald,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And the Burlington superintendent and his flunkies on the school committee are hiding behind statements and consultants deflecting blame.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
28 Aug. 2025
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The best sequences allow for some building of suspense, like the fate of Gautama’s flunky while closing the family shop at night, or an episode when Tika is chased by her possessed mother in their house.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lickspittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lickspittle. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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