as in grovelling
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for genuflecting
Adjective
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Rhodes scholars have long had a reputation for being obsequious careerists, transforming themselves into whatever the elite consensus of the day deems worthy.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
1 June 2024 -
There were cover stories on him and obsequious profiles.—
Cory Franklin,
Twin Cities,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
His co-stars, like Will Ferrell’s savage Mugatu, Owen Wilson’s stoner hottie Hansel, and Nathan Lee Graham’s servile Todd — all so precise and well-defined in the original’s ravelike milieu — are doomed to retrace their old steps here.—
Sean Malin,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2024
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These officials could, in turn, redistribute some of their private goods among their own servile lieutenants, but the monarch retained ultimate power to grant or revoke their privileged status.—
Serhiy Kudelia,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Feb. 2014
Adjective
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Research conclusively shows that sycophantic AI behavior undermines trust and meaningful interaction.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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Their allies were sycophantic, and their natural opponents—especially the French—were submissive.—
Martin Sandbu,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Dec. 2017
Adjective
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Her chef and housekeeper, Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher), is timid and worshipful but able to take quietly decisive action when necessary.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
25 Nov. 2024
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In a country given to worshipful talk of Founding Fathers, this is not a new subject on the political stage.—
Molly Fischer,
The New Yorker,
1 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter featured a number of reverent tributes to the nation’s 39th commander-in-chief.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
9 Jan. 2025
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His live version from Live at Sin-e is a reverent prayer, as spiritual, sensual and truthful as any song will ever hear.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Based on Elijah Wald’s hour-by-hour countdown Dylan Goes Electric!, James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown is a quirky, engaging and (thankfully) never reverential biopic that tracks the journey of Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) from acoustic folk to rock amplification.—
Thomas Doherty,
The Hollywood Reporter,
19 Feb. 2025
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Freed from the demands of a typical episode, in which whatever Donald Trump happened to say that morning could upend entire sketches, the team found clever, reverential ways to play in the deep sandbox of SNL’s past and present.—
Joe Berkowitz,
Vulture,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Likewise, Hollywood stars were adored in hagiographic terms.—
Michael Ashley,
Forbes,
13 Jan. 2025
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Recording a song for the hagiographic Ronald Reagan movie but not his own biopic?—
Chris Stanton,
Vulture,
25 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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His real estate business, with finances overseen by a subservient non-CPA, committed so much deceit that the Trump Organization ended up convicted of tax crimes and its former chief financial officer went to jail—twice.—
Dan Alexander,
Forbes,
18 Feb. 2025
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These include the notion that women are responsible when the victim of a rape attack; that men are the protectors of women, who should be subservient; and that men are frequently victims of false rape claims, among other fringe beliefs he’s publicly espoused.—
Kevin Dolak,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Genuflecting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/genuflecting. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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