toady en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈtəʊ.di/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈtoʊ.di/ (US)
Etymology
From a shortening of toadeater + -y.
Meanings
-
(derogatory) A sycophant who flatters others to gain personal advantage, or an obsequious, servile lackey or minion.
"Go on, Hiram, show 'em what you can do," urged Luke Fodick, who was a sort of toady to Hiram Shell, the school bully, if ever there was one.
1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine:Before I had been standing at the window five minutes, they somehow conveyed to me that they were all toadies and humbugs, but that each of them pretended not to know that the others were toadies and humbugs: because the admission that he or she did know it, would have made him or her out to be a toady and a humbug.
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XI, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, pages 168–169:[T]he appearance of only three coaches, each drawn by four horses, was rather trying for poor Lady Scott. They contained Mrs Coutts – her future lord the Duke of St Albans – one of his Grace's sisters – a dame de compagnie (vulgarly styled a Toady)
1901, John Gibson Lockhart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart, volume 1, page 569:Come 20 January, [Donald] Trump and his toadies – including billionaires such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – will have total control over the executive branch of the United States government.
2024 November 19, Robert Reich, “To protect US democracy from tyrants, we must protect the truly free press”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:"But who is she, can you tell me?" / "Some fair-skinned speculation of old Montreville's, I suppose, that she has got either to toady herself, or take in some of her black friends with.—Is it possible you have never heard of old Mother Montreville?"
1827, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Chronicles of the Canongate; […], volume II (The Surgeon’s Daughter), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, pages 276–277:Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman turned Democrat, said: “He’s absolutely risen to the occasion: he’s a thoroughly despicable, dishonest toady for Donald Trump, and he’s doing it wonderfully.
2026 January 18, David Smith, Nick Robins-Early, quoting Joe Walsh, “JD Vance: ‘despicable toady for Trump’ – and 2028 candidate in all but name”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:But how could she have helped herself? I asked, imagining the sneers and the laughter, the adulation of the toadies, the scepticism of the professional poet.
1929 September, Virginia Woolf, chapter IV, in A Room of One’s Own, uniform edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], published 1931 (April 1935 printing), →OCLC, page 90:
- (archaic) A coarse, rustic woman.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| toadies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
toadyism · toadyish · toadyship
Synonyms
toadeater · dickrider · groveller · adulator · bootlick · ass-kisser · pickthank · groveler · toady · sycophant · minion · bootlicker · white knight · suck up · brownnose · clawback · doormat · throne sniffer · lick-platter · buttkisser · ass-licker · hanger-on · brown noser · buttlicker · schmoozer · lackey · simp · flatterer · lickspittle · arse-kisser · apple polisher · people pleaser · arse-licker · kiss-ass · flunkey · lickpot
Translations (47)
es pelotillero (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · is eyrnasuga (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · vi kẻ bợ đỡ (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · mk полтро́н (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · cmn 马屁精 (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · pt puxa-saco (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · fi mielistelijä (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · is smjaðrari (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · fi imartelija (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · hu talpnyaló (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es sobón (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · mk подли́зурко (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · fr flagorneur (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · de Arschkriecher (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es lameculos (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · ga Seoinín (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · tr yalaka (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es chupamedias (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es comemierda (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · ru подхали́м (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es cobista (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · bg ласкател (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · fi hännystelijä (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · it lacchè (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · pt lambe-botas (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es arrastrado (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es cepillero (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · it adulatore (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · it leccaculo (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · vi kẻ xu nịnh (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · tr şakşakçı (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · tr yağcı (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es franelero (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · de Schleimer (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · es lambiscón (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · fi makeilija (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · bg подлизурко (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · ro lingău (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · hu hízelgő (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · ga failpéir (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · cs vlezdoprdelka (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · tr dalkavuk (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · it ruffiano (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · pl lizus (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · pl wazeliniarz (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · it lecchino (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage) · ru подли́за (sycophant flattering others to gain personal advantage)