Obsequiousness

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The quality of being obsequious; servile compliance. uncountable, usually

    "The crusty portier and the crusty clerks gave us the surly reception which their kind deal out in prosperous times, but by mollifying them with an extra display of obsequiousness and servility we finally got them to show us to the room which our boy had engaged for us."

  2. 2
    abject or cringing submissiveness wordnet

Synonyms

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Example

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"Tom's obsequiousness towards John was nauseating."

Etymology

From Middle English obsequyousnesse, equivalent to obsequious + -ness.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.