fawning adj : attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery [syn: bootlicking, obsequious, sycophantic, toadyish]

Fawn \Fawn\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fawned; p. pr. & vb. n. Fawning.] [OE. fawnen, fainen, fagnien, to rejoice, welcome, flatter, AS. f[ae]gnian to rejoice; akin to Icel. fagna to rejoice, welcome. See Fain.] To court favor by low cringing, frisking, etc., as a dog; to flatter meanly; -- often followed by on or upon. You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds. --Shak. Thou with trembling fear, Or like a fawning parasite, obeyest. --Milton. Courtiers who fawn on a master while they betray him. --Macaulay.

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Sycophancy means:

Alternative phrases are often used such as:

The Greek for sycophant is συκοφάντης (sykophántēs). It suggests someone who brings all kinds of charges and proves none, according to a client of Demosthenes. In this context, the word entails false accusation, malicious prosecution, and abuse of legal process for mischievous or fraudulent purposes.

In ancient Greece the word was the Athenian counterpart of the Roman delator, a public informer. In modern Greek the term has retained its ancient classical meaning, and is still used to describe a slanderer or a calumniator.

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