Kowtow
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The act of kowtowing. intransitive
"Three elders dressed in their long silk ceremonial gowns perform the kowtow before the altar in their clan ancestral hall."
- 2 a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission wordnet
- 1 To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground. historical, intransitive
"When the weather turned cold, the tears that he shed would become frozen like veins; the blood on his forehead from kowtowing would also freeze and would not drip."
- 2 try to gain favor by cringing or flattering wordnet
- 3 To grovel, act in a very submissive manner; to show obeisance to (someone or something) in such a manner; to bow. figuratively, intransitive
"I suppose you're going to be nice to Odie and kowtow to Jon and lick the mailman's boots! I don't like you already."
- 4 bend the knees and bow in a servile manner wordnet
- 5 To bow very deeply. intransitive
Example
More examples"When the weather turned cold, the tears that he shed would become frozen like veins; the blood on his forehead from kowtowing would also freeze and would not drip."
Etymology
From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.
More for "kowtow"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.