sycophancy
AmericanEtymology
Origin of sycophancy
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin sȳcophantia “trickery,” from Greek sȳkophantía “dishonest prosecution,” from sȳkophánt(ēs) “informer” ( see sycophant) + -ia -y 3
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.
The most basic way to counter AI sycophancy is to ask open-ended questions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
The phenomenon is called sycophancy: Models effectively tell users what they want to hear.
From Salon • Jan. 3, 2026
“AI platforms tend to demonstrate sycophancy, i.e., aligning their responses to a user’s views or style of conversation,” Schueller said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025
It said it would build more guardrails to increase transparency, and refine the system itself "to explicitly steer the model away from sycophancy".
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2025
Thoughtless eclecticism, eager backward glances at a career, and income down to the meanest sycophancy occupy their places.
From Feuerbach: The roots of the socialist philosophy by Lewis, Austin
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.
