Toadeater
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A fawning, obsequious parasite; a mean sycophant or flatterer. archaic, derogatory
"1819, J. Wilson, Complete Dictionary of Astrology "Horary Questions", Of Theft. a chaplain, tutor, toadeater, or some superior servant"
Example
More examples"1819, J. Wilson, Complete Dictionary of Astrology "Horary Questions", Of Theft. a chaplain, tutor, toadeater, or some superior servant"
Etymology
From toad + eater, said to allude to an old alleged practice among mountebanks, who would hire a boy to eat (or pretend to eat) toads, which many had considered poisonous. The toadeater (or "toady") would pretend to writhe in pain, until the quack gave him some "medicine" and pretended that the boy was cured. Compare toady.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.