lackey

American  

[lak-ee] / ˈlæk i /

Or lacquey

noun

lackeys plural

1. a servile follower; toady.

2. a footman or liveried manservant.

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verb (used with object)

lackeys, present (3rd person singular) lackeyed, past participle, past lackeying present participle

1. to attend as a lackey does.

lackey British  

/ ˈlækɪ /

noun

1. a servile follower; hanger-on

2. a liveried male servant or valet

3. a person who is treated like a servant

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verb

1. to act as a lackey (to)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unlackeyed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lackeys
  plural

Participles

• lackeying
  present
• lackeyed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lackey
  simple
• lackeys
  simple
• have lackeyed
  perfect
• has lackeyed
  perfect
• am lackeying
  progressive
• are lackeying
  progressive
• is lackeying
  progressive
• have been lackeying
  perfect progressive
• has been lackeying
  perfect progressive

Past

• lackeyed
  simple
• had lackeyed
  perfect
• was lackeying
  progressive
• were lackeying
  progressive
• had been lackeying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lackey
  simple
• will have lackeyed
  perfect
• will be lackeying
  progressive
• will have been lackeying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lackey

1520–30; < Middle French laquais, perhaps < Catalan lacayo, alacayo < ?

Explanation

A lackey is someone who works for someone else and tries to get ahead by kissing up to his superiors. For example, a lackey might carry his employer's luggage or fetch her cappuccinos. A lackey can also be a servant who wears a uniform, like a butler, doorman, or valet. Only the richest, grandest, snobbiest families employ lackeys these days. Another name for a lackey is a manservant, who works in a private home serving the needs of his employer — like a maid, but male. From this earliest meaning came the sense of lackey as a "toady" or "sycophant," someone who fawns and flatters in order to get what they want. The word stems from the Middle French laquais, "foot soldier" or "servant."

Example Sentences

“We are not an island state,” Lackey said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

Fellow climber Julia Lackey, who has worked in Yosemite for the past two seasons, agreed the situation is "really scary."

From Barron's • Nov. 1, 2025

Lackey described the memorial as an opportunity to show how “this country has made mistakes in its developments.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2024

“It hurts, and we don’t want to do it,” Lackey said.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2024

“They call it the land of opportunity, and I don’t think that’s changed much,” said Diana Lackey, a sixty-year-old homemaker and wife of a retired contractor in Fulton, New York, near Syracuse.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times