courtier

American  

[kawr-tee-er, kohr-] / ˈkɔr ti ər, ˈkoʊr- /

noun

1. a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage.

2. a person who seeks favor by flattery, charm, etc.

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courtier British  

/ ˈkɔːtɪə /

noun

1. an attendant at a court

2. a person who seeks favour in an ingratiating manner

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Other Word Forms

• undercourtier noun

Etymology

Origin of courtier

1250–1300; Middle English courteour < Anglo-French courte ( i ) our, equivalent to Old French cortoy ( er ) to attend at court (derivative of court court ) + Anglo-French -our < Latin -ōr- -or ²; suffix later conformed to -ier ¹

Example Sentences

Kenyon’s dig at “uproarious pedantry” nods to James’s intellectual pretensions, which some courtiers derided—even though a learned monarch seems preferable to an ignorant one.

From The Wall Street Journal

Whether it is simply fewer courtiers, a bit less ceremony, no more people calling him sir, or bowing.

From BBC

Stoppard announced himself with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” an absurdist lark that views “Hamlet” from the keyhole perspective of two courtiers jockeying for position in the new regime.

From Los Angeles Times

He has survived multiple damaging scandals and found his way back to power every time, like a wily Renaissance courtier or an unkillable horror-movie villain, and may well survive this one.

From Salon

So in the end, courtiers used an obscure workaround.

From The Wall Street Journal