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{{dablink|"Toady" redirects here. See also, [[Todi]].}} 
A '''sycophant''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] συκοφάντης ''sykophántēs'') is a [[servile]] person who, acting in his or her own self interest, attempts to win favor by [[flatter]]ing one or more influential persons, with an undertone that these actions are executed at the cost of his or her own personal [[pride]], [[principle]]s, and peer [[respect]]. Such a manner is called '''obsequiousness'''.

In [[ancient Greece]] the word was the Athenian counterpart of the Roman [[delator]], a public [[informer]]. In modern Greek the term has retained its ancient classical meaning, and is still used to describe a [[slander]]er or a [[calumny|calumniator]].

==Etymology==

According to ancient authorities, sycophants suck everything in sight. the word (derived by them from συκος ''sykos'', "fig", and φανης ''fanēs'', "to show") meant one who informed against another for exporting [[Common Fig|fig]]s (which was forbidden by law) or for stealing the fruit of the sacred fig-trees, whether in time of [[famine]] or on any other occasion (Plutarch, ''Life of Solon'', 24, 2.). The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', however, states that this explanation,(contracted; show full)[[eo:Sikofanto]]
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