obsequious

obsequious

English

WOTD – 30 May 2008

Etymology

From Latin obsequiōsus (“complaisant, obsequious”) [1], from obsequium (“compliance”), from obsequor (“comply with, yield to”), from ob (“in the direction of, towards”) + sequor (“follow”) (cf. sequel).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /əbˈsiːkwi.əs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

obsequious (comparative more obsequious, superlative most obsequious)

1. Excessively eager and attentive to please or to obey instructions; fawning, subservient, servile.

   Synonyms: fawning, ingratiating, servile, slavish, sycophantic, truckling, smarmy, asskissing; see also Thesaurus:sycophantic

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘Those Were the Real Conquests’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, OCLC 1029993343, page 259:

     Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious adoration, and I read the same feeling in the faces of Lord John 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.

2. (archaic) Obedient; compliant with someone else's orders or wishes.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obedient

   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 1000392275, page 140:

     Our ladies were situated as well as it was possible; they had good servants, splendid rooms, obsequious attendants, and had become habituated to the country, so that the loss of the Count was not any thing of moment beyond the pleasure of his society; […]

3. (obsolete) Of or pertaining to obsequies, funereal.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, OCLC 760858814, [Act I, scene ii]:

     […] the ſuruiuer bound / In filliall obligation for ſome tearme
     To doe obſequious ſorrowe […]

Derived terms

• obsequiously
• obsequiousness
• obsequity

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ-‎ (3 c, 0 e)

Translations

obedient, compliant with someone else's orders

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: послушен (bg) (poslušen) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: underdanig Dutch: onderdanig (nl) Finnish: kuuliainen (fi) French: obéissant (fr), obséquieux (fr) German: gehorsam (de), folgsam (de), unterwürfig Hebrew: צייתן‎ m (tsaytán) Hungarian: engedelmes (hu) Latin: obsequiōsus Latvian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: underdanig (no), servil Polish: czołobitny, służalczy (pl) Portuguese: obsequioso (pt) Romanian: obsecvios (ro) Russian: послу́шный (ru) (poslúšnyj) Serbo-Croatian: podložan (sh), servilan (sh), poslušnički (sh) Spanish: servil (es), apatronado, obsequioso Swedish: inställsam (sv), underdånig (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

fawning, subservient

Bulgarian: сервилен (bg) (servilen), раболепен (bg) (rabolepen) Catalan: obsequiós Czech: podlézavý Danish: servil, slesk Dutch: kruiperig (nl), slaafs (nl), onderworpen (nl) Finnish: nöyristelevä, mielistelevä (fi), liehakoiva French: obséquieux (fr), soumis (fr) German: unterwürfig, hörig (de), servil (de), kriecherisch, devot (de) Greek: γλύφτης m (glýftis) Hungarian: alázatos (hu), szolgalelkű (hu) Ido: komplezachema (io), respektemacha Irish: spleách Latin: obsequiōsus, vernīlis Maori: whakapatipati Norwegian: Bokmål: servil, slesk, sleskete Plautdietsch: dommbleed Polish: służalczy (pl) m Portuguese: obsequioso (pt), submisso (pt) Romanian: servil (ro), obsecvios (ro) Russian: подобостра́стный (ru) (podobostrástnyj), раболе́пный (ru) (rabolépnyj) Serbo-Croatian: servilan (sh), poslušnički (sh) Spanish: sumiso (es), obsequioso Swedish: underdånig (sv), krypande (sv)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “obsequious”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.