Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

sycophant

/ˈsɪkəfænt/ noun, verb

Forms sycophants sycophanting sycophanted

  1. noun One who uses obsequious compliments to gain self-serving favour or advantage from another; a servile flatterer.
  2. noun One who seeks to gain through the powerful and influential.
  3. noun (obsolete) An informer; a talebearer.
  4. verb (transitive, obsolete) To inform against; hence, to calumniate.
  5. verb (transitive, rare) To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Synonyms

ass-kisser brown noser suck-up yes man parasite flunky lackey adulator apple polisher arse-kisser arse-licker ass-licker bootlick bootlicker buttkisser buttlicker brownnose clawback dickrider doormat toady crawler

Antonyms

boss malapert ruler

Etymology

First attested in 1537. From Latin sȳcophanta (“informer, trickster”), from Ancient Greek συκοφάντης (sukophántēs), itself from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show, demonstrate”). The gesture of "showing the fig" was a vulgar one, which was made by sticking the thumb between two fingers, a display which vaguely resembles a fig, which is itself symbolic of a σῦκον (sûkon), which also meant vulva. The story behind this etymology is that politicians in ancient Greece steered clear of displaying that vulgar gesture, but secretly urged their followers to taunt their opponents by using it.
Cognate with Italian sicofante, Spanish sicofanta.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun An informer; a talebearer. [Obs.] "Accusing sycophants, of all men, did best sort to his nature." Sir P. Sidney.
  2. noun A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men. A sycophant will everything admire: Each verse, each sentence, sets his soul on fire. Dryden.
  3. verb To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.]
  4. verb To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Etymology [L. sycophanta a slanderer, deceiver, parasite, Gr. sycophante. The reason for the name is not certainly known. See Phenomenon.]

Etymology [CF. L. sycophantari to deceive, to trick, Gr. 1. To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sycophant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details