What does "toadyism" mean?

Sycophancy; fawning, obsequious behavior.

How do you pronounce "toadyism"?

Pronounced //ˈtoʊdi.ɪzəm//.

Toadyism

Q: What is a synonym for "toadyism"?

Common synonyms include: apple polishing, back scratching, fawning, groveling, insinuation, obeisance.

//ˈtoʊdi.ɪzəm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Sycophancy; fawning, obsequious behavior. countable, uncountable
"The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure."

Synonyms

All synonyms

apple polishing back scratching fawning groveling insinuation obeisance

Example

More examples

"The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure."

Etymology

From toady + -ism.

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