sycophants
Insincere praise-givers
Sycophants are people who flatter others excessively to gain advantage—yes-men, toadies, brownnosers.
The word carries strong disapproval: sycophants are insincere, self-serving, and often surround those in power.
The CEO surrounded himself with sycophants who never challenged his decisions.
She dismissed his compliments as sycophancy.
Those offering insincere praise
- courtiersRoyal court members
- yes-menAutomatic approval-givers
- toadiesServile flatterers seeking favor
- lackeysServile attendants
cronies · hangers-on · minions · bootlickers · enablers · suck-ups · apple-polishers · parasites
Those who flatter superiors
- kiss-upsObsequious flatterers, informally
- suck-upsObsequious flatterers seeking favor
- climbersThose who scale heights
- careeristsAdvancement-obsessed professionals
ingratiating · boss · promotion · favoritism · manipulation · networking · toxic · advancement
People who support someone
- entourageAttendants accompanying someone important
- groupiesObsessive celebrity followers
- admirersPeople who appreciate someone
- fawnersServile praise-givers
celebrity · fame · validation · ego · narcissist · attention · superficial · users
Meddling royal counselor
- servileExcessively submissive, lacking independence
- fawningExcessive insincere flattery
- duplicitousDeliberately deceptive in nature
- schemingCrafty and calculating
Machiavellian · villain · conniving · treacherous · backstabbing · Shakespeare · Dickens · satire
flatterers
Those offering insincere praise
lackeys · cronies · hangers-on · minions · bootlickers · enablers · suck-ups · apple-polishers · parasites · opportunists
brown-nosers
Those who flatter superiors
- kiss-upsObsequious flatterers, informally
- suck-upsObsequious flatterers seeking favor
- climbersThose who scale heights
careerists · ingratiating · boss · promotion · favoritism · manipulation · networking · toxic · advancement · compliments
followers
People who support someone
- entourageAttendants accompanying someone important
- groupiesObsessive celebrity followers
- admirersPeople who appreciate someone
fawners · celebrity · fame · validation · ego · narcissist · attention · superficial · users · influencer
Polonius
Meddling royal counselor
- servileExcessively submissive, lacking independence
- fawningExcessive insincere flattery
- duplicitousDeliberately deceptive in nature
scheming · Machiavellian · villain · conniving · treacherous · backstabbing · Shakespeare · Dickens · satire · comedy
- court intrigueintrigue, plots, schemes, plotting, conspiracy
- sycophantstoady, toadies, bootlicker, bootlickers, brownnosers
- admirersfans, devotees, followers, enthusiasts, admirers
- show-offsbraggarts, boasters, showboats, grandstanders, egotists
- easy targetssuckers, dupes, marks, patsies, rubes
- medieval favoritesroyal favorites, advisors, confidants, courtiers, nobles
sycophantscritics
Those who evaluate work
truth-tellers · detractors · naysayers · dissenters · straight shooters
sycophantsrebels
Armed opposition fighters
dissidents · independents · iconoclasts · mavericks · nonconformists