OBSEQUIOUSLY

obsequiously, subserviently, servilely

(adverb) in an obsequious manner; “she acts obsequiously toward her boss”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adverb

obsequiously (comparative more obsequiously, superlative most obsequiously)

in an obsequious manner

Synonyms

• fawningly, subserviently

Source: Wiktionary


Ob*se"qui*ous*ly, adv.

1. In an obsequious manner; compliantly; fawningly. Dryden.

2. In a manner appropriate to obsequies. [Obs.] Whilst I a while obsequiously lament The untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster. Shak.

OBSEQUIOUS

Ob*se"qui*ous, a. Etym: [L.obsequiosus, fr. obsequium compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obséquieux, See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]

1. Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another; compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted. [Obs.] His servants weeping, Obsequious to his orders, bear him hither. Addison.

2. Servilely or meanly attentive; compliant to excess; cringing; fawning; as, obsequious flatterer, parasite. 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.

3. Etym: [See Obsequy.]

Definition: Of or pertaining to obsequies; funereal. [R.] "To do obsequious sorrow." Shak.

Syn.

– Compliant; obedient; servile. See Yielding.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

1 July 2025

ENSLAVEMENT

(noun) the state of being a slave; “So every bondman in his own hand bears the power to cancel his captivity”--Shakespeare


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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