toady
Americannoun
plural
toadiesverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of toady
Explanation
You can call the kid who is always really nice to the teacher in hopes of getting a good grade a brown-noser or, if you want to sound clever, a toady. The word toady has a gross, yet engaging history. Back when medicine was more trickery than science, traveling medicine men would come to a town. Their assistant would eat a toad (you read that right) that was assumed poisonous so that the medicine man could "heal" him. Who would want that job, right? So toad-eater, later shortened to toady, came to mean a person who would do anything to please his boss.
Vocabulary lists containing toady
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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This Week In Words: March 29–April 4, 2020
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Home, to "Toady," means nothing but a vast, palatial mansion, a place to brag about.
From Time Magazine Archive
Toady licked his lips with a disgustingly long and slimy tongue.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
"Think I'll just stick with Ratty and Toady."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Toady pressed his face right up to the crack.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
"It's not a name—it's a curse," said Toady.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
