as in supplicant
one who asks earnestly for a favor or gift
didn't like being in the position of a suppliant, having to ask her parents to help her pay the rent on her apartment
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as in prayerful
asking humbly
the suppliant thief pleaded for a second chance
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of suppliant
Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Like other Te Deums, the work is both laudatory and suppliant, petitioning the divine for continued mercy.
—Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 21 Aug. 2021
It was thought that Betelgeuse was bigger than the orbit of Jupiter in our Solar System, but recent studies suggest that the red suppliant star is about a third less than that at about 750 the radius of our Sun.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 June 2021
William pays price for grabbing The reaction of the male to his suppliants varies.
—National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
Part of the progress, according to Mr. Selee, is a reaction against President Trump’s Mexiphobia, but the underlying influences are long-term and irreversible: Mexico is no longer a feeble suppliant but a potent, necessary partner.
—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Furious at their alma maters’ embrace of DEI, suppression of free speech, hot-housing antisemitic bigotry, and so much more, college alumni are increasingly organizing and publicly challenging the administrations and suppliant boards of America’s leading universities.
—Jack Fowler, National Review, 28 Feb. 2025
Noun
And as happens with the testimonies of the suppliants at the Asclepieion, the stelae ferry the feelings and names of these distant others across the ages to us.
—Teju Cole, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
Like other Te Deums, the work is both laudatory and suppliant, petitioning the divine for continued mercy.
—Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 21 Aug. 2021
It was thought that Betelgeuse was bigger than the orbit of Jupiter in our Solar System, but recent studies suggest that the red suppliant star is about a third less than that at about 750 the radius of our Sun.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 June 2021
William pays price for grabbing The reaction of the male to his suppliants varies.
—National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
Part of the progress, according to Mr. Selee, is a reaction against President Trump’s Mexiphobia, but the underlying influences are long-term and irreversible: Mexico is no longer a feeble suppliant but a potent, necessary partner.
—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Adjective
Both are comfortable, however, with a weakened Iran that does their bidding, offers better deals, and becomes a more suppliant instrument of their regional ambitions.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Furious at their alma maters’ embrace of DEI, suppression of free speech, hot-housing antisemitic bigotry, and so much more, college alumni are increasingly organizing and publicly challenging the administrations and suppliant boards of America’s leading universities.
—Jack Fowler, National Review, 28 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suppliant
Noun
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One of its most common tools is to write a book, or have a book written, to introduce the presidential supplicant to voters.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Carney has transformed into a de facto spokesman for those middle powers, none of which want to turn into supplicants or get caught with their pants down between two superpowers, such as the United States and China, that are increasingly using coercion as a method of statecraft.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Sagrada Família was founded as an expiatory church, meaning that it would be financed by prayerful donations from people atoning for their sins.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Pärt’s formulas, born out of long, prayerful periods with sacred texts, offer beauty in the warmth and friction of relationships: melody and tintinnabuli, word and the limits of language, sounds and silence.—
Jeffers Engelhardt,
The Conversation,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Hollywood turned him into a beggar.—
Lili Anolik,
Vanity Fair,
12 Jan. 2026
-
In the old days beggars were drawn and quartered in that square.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Eight petitions didn’t meet the narrow criteria for resentencing — in four cases, for example, the petitioner’s sentence was not considered to be equivalent to life without parole — and nine petitions are pending.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
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This bill would expand the list of qualified petitioners to include behavioral health professionals who are co-responders with police or other authorities in emergencies, as well as health care and educational institutions.—
The Denver Post,
Denver Post,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Mina also happens to be engaged to Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), a solicitor who pays a visit to the Count at his Romanian palace for a real estate deal.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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That’s according to Robert Anderson, a legal expert and visiting professor at Harvard Law who served as solicitor of the Interior during the Biden administration.—
Alex Robinson,
Outdoor Life,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Allen Hodges, whose 16-year-old daughter died from an epileptic seizure in 2020, has pushed to clarify the state’s public records law to ensure that such images can’t be released to a requester, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.—
Kevin Fixler,
Idaho Statesman,
4 Feb. 2026
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The conservative legal group is asking for the total number of FOIA requests the agency receives, how many seek expedited treatment, how many are granted, how many invoke environmental justice as justification, and the identities and affiliations of requesters approved under that provision.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suppliant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suppliant. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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