Obsequious \Ob*se"qui*ous\, a. [L. obsequiosus, fr. obsequium
compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obs['e]quieux,
See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
1. Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another;
compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted.
[Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
His servants weeping,
Obsequious to his orders, bear him hither.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
2. Servilely or meanly attentive; compliant to excess;
cringing; fawning; as, obsequious flatterer, parasite.
[1913 Webster]
There lies ever in "obsequious" at the present the
sense of an observance which is overdone, of an
unmanly readiness to fall in with the will of
another. --Trench.
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3. [See Obsequy.] Of or pertaining to obsequies; funereal.
[R.] "To do obsequious sorrow." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Compliant; obedient; servile. See Yielding.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
obsequious
adj 1: attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
[syn: bootlicking, fawning, sycophantic, toadyish]
2: attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; "obsequious
shop assistants"
WordNet (r) 2.0
70 Moby Thesaurus words for "obsequious":
abject, adulatory, ass-kissing, backscratching, beggarly, bland,
blandishing, blarneying, bootlicking, brown-nosing, buttery,
cajoling, complimentary, courtierly, courtly, cowering, crawling,
cringing, crouching, deferential, fair-spoken, fawning,
fine-spoken, flattering, footlicking, fulsome, groveling, gushing,
hangdog, honey-mouthed, honey-tongued, honeyed, ingratiating,
insincere, insinuating, low, mealy-mouthed, mealymouthed, menial,
obeisant, oily, oily-tongued, on bended knee, parasitic, prone,
prostrate, servile, slavish, slimy, slobbery, smarmy, smooth,
smooth-spoken, smooth-tongued, sniveling, soapy, soft-soaping,
sponging, submissive, subservient, sycophantic, sycophantical,
sycophantish, timeserving, toadeating, toadying, toadyish,
truckling, unctuous, wheedling
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
bootlicking, fawning, sycophantic, toadyish
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