kowtow
Americanverb (used without object)
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to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
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to touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., especially in former Chinese custom.
noun
verb
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to touch the forehead to the ground as a sign of deference: a former Chinese custom
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(often foll by to) to be servile or obsequious (towards)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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kowtowsimple
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kowtowssimple
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have kowtowedperfect
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has kowtowedperfect
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am kowtowingprogressive
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are kowtowingprogressive
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is kowtowingprogressive
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have been kowtowingperfect progressive
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has been kowtowingperfect progressive
Past
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kowtowedsimple
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had kowtowedperfect
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was kowtowingprogressive
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were kowtowingprogressive
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had been kowtowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kowtow
First recorded in 1795–1805, kowtow is from the Chinese word kòutóu, literally, “knock (one's) head”
Explanation
Kowtow, which describes the act of kneeling and touching one’s head to the ground to show respect, used to be a custom in Chinese culture. Now it refers to acting like you're doing that, whether you actually bow or not. Kowtow is derived from the Chinese word k’o-t’ou, which literally means “knock the head.” As a verb, kowtow has the sense of “sucking up” or "flattering." Maybe you’re wondering when it would be appropriate to kowtow. The answer? When you want to worship, show respect, gain favor, or flatter. You might need to kowtow to your teacher if you failed a test, but if you kowtow to all your neighbor's requests, you might wind up mowing his lawn all summer.
Vocabulary lists containing kowtow
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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.
See Examples For:
For that reason, Iran’s officers may feel no compulsion to kowtow to Beijing.
From Slate ● May 7, 2026
Smaller domestic military budgets also reduce the need for companies to kowtow to politicians by maintaining unprofitable operations in their districts or supporting civilian projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
The need to kowtow seems to have scarred Torres.
From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
He’s an American native and a fiercely secular one at that, but the controversy awakens something in him, a stubborn individualism and a refusal to kowtow to ignorance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2021
At his glance, Minli shrank to the ground in a humble kowtow.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
The head of the department is a micromanager and everyone kowtows to him.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2023
“I had to do three kowtows to the sun,” Mr. Hunt told The Guardian.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
Even when her voice is high and sweet, she never kowtows.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 14, 2019
And then he watches as Katrina kowtows to the Headless Horseman, in fact saving his life but also showing her shifting allegiance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2014
The kings had all thrown themselves into kowtows, each swearing he would return at the Moon Festival with splendid flowers.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
To leave James alone on a first-round island might be unfair, but the Lakers have kowtowed to him plenty in his eight years here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
It kowtowed to every fashionable agenda to protect its independence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
“They kowtowed to this apparent superstar with poor results.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
David Brent was the personification of what every person loathes about themselves when they inevitably succumb to the workforce—superficial, petty, and incompetent, just like the status quo he kowtowed to.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2016
He always made a great show of waiting on the Tates; he kowtowed to my parents when they came in.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Bennett argued presciently that by kowtowing to radicals, “a great university was brought low by the very forces which modern universities came into being to oppose: ignorance, irrationality and intimidation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
Normally, I wouldn’t suggest kowtowing to the Americans and their strange instance on measuring things their own way.
From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2025
Those early signs of kowtowing were bad indicators that the members of Youngstown State University’s faculty union just couldn’t get behind.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2025
"A kowtowing of the East towards the West is not a rising East."
From BBC ● May 1, 2025
Other males and females exhibit their submission to the alpha male by bowing before him while making grunting sounds, not unlike human subjects kowtowing before a king.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
