obsequious
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin obsequiōsus (“complaisant, obsequious”) [1], from obsequium (“compliance”), from obsequor (“comply with, yield to”), from ob (“in the direction of, towards”) + sequor (“follow”) (see sequel).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
obsequious (comparative more obsequious, superlative most obsequious)
- (archaic) Obedient; compliant with someone else's orders or wishes.
- Excessively eager and attentive to please or to obey instructions; fawning, subservient, servile.
- 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World[1]:
- Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious adoration, and I read the same feeling in the faces of Roxton and Summerlee, but Challenger expanded like a flower in the sun.
- 1927, Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, p. 20
- Translation falls especially short of this conceit which carries the whole flamboyance of the Spanish language. It was intended as an obsequious flattery of the Condesa, and was untrue.
- 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1965, page 118:
- [S]he complained pettishly of the heat and the flies and at length of the walk, and reduced Robert to the antics of an obsequious dog.
- (obsolete) Of or pertaining to obsequies, funereal.
- c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 1, scene 2]:
- […] the survivor bound
In filial obligation for some term
To do obsequious sorrow […]
- c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 1, scene 2]:
- Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament
Th’ untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.
Synonyms[edit]
- (obedient): See also Thesaurus:obedient
- (fawning or subservient): fawning, ingratiating, servile, slavish, sycophantic, truckling, smarmy, asskissing ; see also Thesaurus:sycophantic
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
obedient, compliant with someone else's orders
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fawning, subservient
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References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper, “obsequious”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2021.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (follow)
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
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