# sycophant

Pronunciation: say "SIK-uh-fant" /ˈsɪkəfænt/

## Noun

1. A person who flatters or attaches themselves to powerful or important people in order to gain favor or advantage.
   - Simple: Someone who praises powerful people too much, or stays close to them, to get something for themselves.
   - _The dictator filled his cabinet with sycophants who praised every decision he made._
   - _She refused to play the sycophant, even when a little flattery might have won her the promotion._

## Verb

2. To flatter someone in a fawning way, behaving as a sycophant toward them. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To praise someone too much to win their favor.
4. To inform against someone, and by extension to slander them. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To report someone to people in power, or to tell lies about them.

## Noun

3. An informer; someone who carries tales about others. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who tells on other people to those in power.

## Origin

First recorded in English in 1537, from Latin sȳcophanta ("informer, trickster"), from Greek sukophántēs, from sûkon ("fig") + phaínō ("I show"). Why a "fig-shower" meant an informer is unknown; ancient tales about fig smugglers or a rude fig gesture are generally treated as later guesses.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sycophant (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).