“If you want a sycophant, buy a dog. If you want an economist who bars no holds, call Larry Summers.”  Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance.  Summers is former Treasury Secretary and former president of Harvard.

I like this word because it uses a “Word of the Week” in its definition.

A sycophant (noun) is a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage. A servile self-seeking flatterer.

Obsequious was Word of the Week #42 –  see below.

It is pronounced kind of like SICK oh funt or fant

Another example:

“When her career was riding high, the self-deluded actress often mistook sycophants for true friends.”

Recent example:

“Natalie tells her that Sherry runs this town, so the only way to deal with her is to earn her respect or be a sycophant” Anchorage Daily News, July 2021

This is another great addition to the fabulous “Word of the Week”.  Proper use will make you appear intelligent but not pretentious.

To learn more and to hear the correct pronunciation go to:  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sycophant

Previous “Word of the Week” #42 revisited – obsequious

obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”

He’s definitely a sycophant.

Quote of the Week….

“If you hit a bad note it’s the next note you play that determines if it’s good or bad.”  Miles Davis, Legendary Jazz Trumpeter

During his nearly 40-year career, jazz legend Miles Davis (1926-1991) constantly evolved his style, pushing and challenging the boundaries of jazz music. Like all great jazz musicians, Davis was a master of improvisation. As such, he saw musical mistakes as opportunities — a philosophy he carried into the rest of his life. It’s how we react to so-called mistakes that determine whether the ultimate outcome will be negative or positive. As the great jazz pianist Herbie Hancock said, “Miles was able to turn something that was wrong into something that was right.” 

No Words Necessary….

Final Thoughts –

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

86 weeks of great words

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2-   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent – habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –  truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge. In response to a demand to immediately surrender the general sent back the following: “Nuts”
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – “Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable. ” 
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting. “We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace.” Or something done in an indirect way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant.  “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories.  “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.”
48 – fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable.  “The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.”
49 – filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. “They stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster”.
50 – hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. “They battled for hegemony in Asia.”
51 – de facto – being such in effect though not formally recognized or contrary to established law “a de facto state of war” for a war that has not been officially declared.
52 – blockchain – an open, distributed leger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.
53 – bête noire – A person or thing one particularly dislikes or is strongly detested. “The abuse of women was a bête noire for Lincoln.”
54 – evince -to constitute outward evidence of….to display clearly: reveal. “He evinced a depraved mind.”
55 – virago – a loud overbearing woman.  Domineering, violent, or bad tempered. “Democrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican virago.”
56 – metonym –  a name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. “Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the US.”
57 – felicitous is an adjective defined as  well chosen or suited to the circumstances such as “a felicitous phrase”.
58 – ennui – a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. “He succumbed to ennui and despair”
59 – imprimatur – a noun meaning sanction or approval. “He gave the book his imprimatur.”
60 – fiat – A command or act of will that creates something without further effort.  An authoritative determination. “He runs the company by fiat.”
61 – salient – meaning most notable or important.  Of notable significance. “It succinctly covered all the salient point of the case.”
62 – meme – an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.  “The band encouraged fans to make memes to advertise the U.S. release of their EP.”
63 –  delectation – delight or enjoyment. “Here are some chocolates for your delectation.”
64 – feckless – acting in an irresponsible, weak, or cowardly manner. Inept, incompetent. “feckless leadership.”
65 – Ignominious – Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame. despicable, “His was an ignominious withdrawal.”
66 – mollify – to soothe in temper or disposition. “He mollified his staff with promises of future raises.”
67 – prosaic – dull, unimaginative, commonplace. “prosaic advice.”
68 – diaspora – a noun meaning the dispersion of any people from their original homeland. “A diaspora of thousands of Afghans has arrived in the United States.”
69 – tête-à-tête – a private conversation between two people. “They had a tête-à-tête last night over a quiet dinner.“
70 – fatuous – silly and pointless. inanely foolish, “A fatuous comment.”
71 – ineffable – indescribable. “ineffable joy”
72 – putative -generally considered or reputed to be.  Assumed to exist or to have existed. “His putative conversation had a big impact on the events of my life.”
73 – ineluctable – unable to be resisted or avoided.  inescapable.  “the ineluctable facts of history.” 
74 – redolent – exuding fragrance, aromatic, scented. “The air is redolent of seaweed.” – or evocative, suggestive. strongly reminiscent of.  “names redolent of history and tradition.”
75 – excoriate – a verb that means to censure or severely criticize.  “The papers that had been excoriating him were now lauding him.”
76 – straw-man – an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent’s real argument. A weak or imaginary opposition (such as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted.
77 – élan or elan – a noun defined as vigorous spirit or enthusiasm. style, energy. “Big and muscular, he exuded a natural elan.”
78 – repartee – a conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies, amusing. light sparring with words.“ He had a quick mind and a splendid gift for repartee.”
79 – louche is an adjective meaning disreputable or sordid often in a rakish or appealing way. “The louche world of the theater.”
80 – transgender – an adjective meaning of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity differs from the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth. “A transgender American”.
81 – shambolic – an adjective meaning obviously chaotic, disorganized, confused or mismanaged.  “The department’s shambolic accounting department.”
82 – minion – a noun defined as a follower or underling of a powerful person, especially a servile or unimportant one. A subordinate or petty official.  “He’s one of the boss’ minions.”
83 – militia – a noun meaning a military force that is raised from the civilian population to supplement a regular army in an emergency. “Creating a militia was no answer to the army’s manpower problem.”
84 – evince – a verb meaning revealing the presence of (a quality or feeling)”  To constitute outward evidence of or to display clearly. “His letters evince the excitement he felt at undertaking this journey.”
85 – egregious – outstandingly bad, shocking, flagrantly bad, conspicuously bad. Putin’s egregious war on Ukraine.
86 – sycophant – a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage. A servile self-seeking flatterer. “She mistook sycophants for true friends.”