supplicant
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of supplicant
1590–1600; < Latin supplicant- (stem of supplicāns ), present participle of supplicāre to supplicate; see -ant; doublet of suppliant
Explanation
If you pray every night to be accepted to your dream college, you can call yourself a supplicant, or a person who asks humbly for something. A supplicant can be a fervently religious person who prays to God for help with a problem, and it can also be someone who begs earnestly for something he or she wants. A younger brother entreating his sister to be allowed in her tree house could be described as a supplicant. The Latin root word is supplicantem, "plead humbly."
Vocabulary lists containing supplicant
The Shining
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Grendel
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"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane
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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.
Boy Kavalier thinks he’s king of the planet with everyone else supplicant to his will.
From Salon • Sep. 24, 2025
Another supplicant wanted a piece of the lottery winnings to get her driveway paved.
From Washington Post • Jun. 16, 2021
When they ask a witness if he believes in the Triad, they do so with a quivering tone, as if they were priests asking a supplicant if he believes in God.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2021
It is at once an odd and endearing phenomenon, given that Ms. Lebowitz is 70 years old, aggressively hostile to technology and not an obvious supplicant to the politics of cultural sensitivity.
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2021
He knew better than to come to Melisandre’s chambers like a supplicant, insisting she come to him instead should she have need of words with him.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
