ob-SEE-kwee-us

Definition

(adjective) Excessively eager to please or obey; fawning and submissive to the point of being insincere.

Example

The new intern was so obsequious — laughing at every joke, volunteering for every errand, agreeing with every opinion — that even the managers who enjoyed the flattery found it unsettling.

Word Origin

Obsequious derives from the Latin obsequiosus, meaning “compliant” or “accommodating,” rooted in obsequium, meaning “compliance” or “dutiful service,” from obsequi — “to follow after” or “to comply with.” It entered English in the 15th century originally without negative connotation, simply describing dutiful service. By the 17th century, writers began using it specifically to describe excessive, servile flattery — and the negative undertone has stuck ever since.