1.
[syn: bootlicking, fawning, obsequious, sycophantic, toadyish]
2. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner;
- Example: "obsequious shop assistants"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Obsequious \Ob*se"qui*ous\, a. [L. obsequiosus, fr. obsequium
compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obs['e]quieux,
See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
1. Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another;
compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted.
[Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
His servants weeping,
Obsequious to his orders, bear him hither.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
2. Servilely or meanly attentive; compliant to excess;
cringing; fawning; as, obsequious flatterer, parasite.
[1913 Webster]
There lies ever in "obsequious" at the present the
sense of an observance which is overdone, of an
unmanly readiness to fall in with the will of
another. --Trench.
[1913 Webster]
3. [See Obsequy.] Of or pertaining to obsequies; funereal.
[R.] "To do obsequious sorrow." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Compliant; obedient; servile. See Yielding.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
obsequious
adj 1: attempting to win favor from influential people by
flattery [syn: bootlicking, fawning, obsequious,
sycophantic, toadyish]
2: attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; "obsequious
shop assistants"