courtier
Americannoun
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a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage.
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a person who seeks favor by flattery, charm, etc.
noun
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an attendant at a court
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a person who seeks favour in an ingratiating manner
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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 • Nov. 30, 2025
The grandchildren's father, Prince Joachim, the Queen's youngest son, reportedly only heard the news from a courtier.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2023
The character plays the courtier, but the compliments he dispenses are transparently phony.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2022
A: Yes, I talked to a very senior courtier who said, “Oh, God, it was awful.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2022
He ate some bread, and said, “My girls, they do like to dance. Little one, Shirley, she going to dance like a courtier when she’s grown. The big one, she wants the graces.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
