sycophant

“A sycophant with no combat experience has to tell Xi what Xi wants to hear,” wrote Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official who met Zhang when he visited the U.S. in 2012.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

Peeking over her shoulder at her notes, he tuts, “Doesn’t sycophant have an ‘o’?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025

Then, referring to the man who has replaced him as premier, he adds "not like Li Qiang", who he describes as a sycophant.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2023

And Cohen is not the most wretched sycophant in political history.

From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2019

Jackie was no sycophant or whipping boy, as he’s been described by other writers.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The new boss will want to make a mark—almost any mark will do—to intimidate top performers and encourage sycophants.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Among Jay’s core group of sycophants and servants are the dependable Laura Dern as his publicist and Adam Sandler as his dutiful manager, Ron.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

When Hussein was deposed in Iraq, the military officers, Ba’ath Party loyalists and regime-tied sycophants who ruled the roost for nearly a quarter-century were forced to make do with an entirely new situation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025

And it is all being fed by sycophants and henchmen who have created a self-reinforcing feedback loop.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2025

Shusgis talked and talked to me and to the many employees, aides, and sycophants who sat down at his table nightly; I had never known him so longwinded, so relentlessly jovial.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin