as in flunkey
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a partisan news program whose host is more of a lickspittle for the White House than a serious journalist
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lickspittle
Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.
—
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
Of course, the real blame for all this goes to the gutless lickspittles in the U.S. Senate, who, in an impeachment proceeding just weeks after the insurrection, could have restored the nation’s dignity and voted to bar Trump from ever running again.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
What's more, Louis DeJoy, the Trump lickspittle and longtime Republican donor (with a massive financial conflict of interest) now serving as postmaster general, has royally messed up mail service.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 11 Aug. 2020
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025
Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Such as holding court, choosing your sobriquet, and naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 7 July 2024
Of course, the real blame for all this goes to the gutless lickspittles in the U.S. Senate, who, in an impeachment proceeding just weeks after the insurrection, could have restored the nation’s dignity and voted to bar Trump from ever running again.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
What happened to the idea that art and culture should be a contemptuous refuge from the mainstream, as opposed to this lickspittle, running dog accommodation to the mainstream?
—Billboard Staff, Billboard, 3 June 2022
What's more, Louis DeJoy, the Trump lickspittle and longtime Republican donor (with a massive financial conflict of interest) now serving as postmaster general, has royally messed up mail service.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 11 Aug. 2020
And Washington is revealed once again as our modern Versailles, a place of courtiers and lickspittles who’d use the Ministry of Justice to serve their ambitions.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 15 June 2018
Ricardians denounce Shakespeare as a lickspittle hack who favored Henry Tudor —the winner at Bosworth and Elizabeth I’s grandfather—over Richard’s branch of the House of York.
—Andrew Roberts, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lickspittle
Noun
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Of course, Veep’s sycophants, buffoons, and backstabbers bear little resemblance to the vanguard of our latest regime.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
20 Feb. 2025
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Yet Ariel soon grows concerned that Moretti’s servants and sycophants on his massive swath of remote land act more like cult members than superfans and, of course, dark secrets await.—
William Earl,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Most Americans don’t get it either, or why previous senators backing Ukraine have become toadies to Trump’s outrageous claims against the Ukrainians.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
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After Zelenskyy wouldn’t genuflect, Trump got toadies Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz to ask the Ukrainian to leave.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Sadly, perhaps much of what the Oscar winner is doing here will be lost in the blowback the unsweetened Trump critic will undoubtedly be subjected to from the MAGA minions and their kingpin in the days to come.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2025
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Welles later said a Hearst minion had tried, unsuccessfully, to frame Welles by sending a 14-year-old girl to his hotel room.—
John Semley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
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Sara Fischer, Dave Lawler Dec 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy Media's suck-up moment Fearing political retribution and strained by new business challenges, media companies that once covered President-elect Trump with skepticism — and in many cases, disdain — are reconsidering their approach.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Raq is a master manipulator who claims to value loyalty above all else, especially from her henchmen brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou (Malcolm Mays) and her only son, yet constantly destabilizes the three of them with selfish mind games and power plays that genuinely harm them.—
Robyn Bahr,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Mar. 2025
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One whack and the burly guard or crime boss henchman is knocked out for the rest of the caper.—
Rich Heldenfels,
Boston Herald,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In addition, old nests can also harbor parasites and pathogens that might be harmful to the birds.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 Mar. 2025
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These real-world parasites have inspired everything from horror movies to the hit HBO series The Last of Us, which envisions a future where a mutated Cordyceps fungus jumps to humans.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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No matter what spec-chart flunkies might say about a car that merely hits 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, GT 63 proved as ferocious and exhilarating as any front-engine GT car available, whether German, Italian or English.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
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Jin and his other flunkies excuse themselves, but Tetsu keeps Botan there to question him.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
24 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Lickspittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lickspittle. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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