sycophancy

Everyday

1. (formal) Sycophancy is flattering and agreeing with an important or powerful person too much, to please them and get something for yourself. tree →
2. For computers and AI, sycophancy means a chatbot telling people what they want to hear instead of what is true. tree →

In the lessons

In English and history lessons it describes courtiers and advisers around kings who praised them falsely, and characters in stories who "suck up" to the boss. In computing lessons about AI it is a known problem: a good helper should be honest, even when the answer is not welcome. Close informal words: sucking up, brown-nosing (rude), crawling (UK), teacher's pet behaviour.

Examples

• The king's advisers were full of sycophancy and never told him bad news. tree →
• His sycophancy towards the head teacher annoyed the class. tree →
• Sycophancy is not real friendship. tree →
• The AI's sycophancy meant it agreed with every wrong answer. tree →
• In the play, the servant's sycophancy hides his plan to steal. tree →
• Honest feedback is better than sycophancy. tree →
• She rejected the sycophancy of people who only liked her money. tree →

Note

Uncountable, formal. Person: sycophant; adjective: sycophantic. Pronounced "SIK-uh-fun-see". Do not confuse with "psychology" or "symphony". Being kind and polite is not sycophancy; sycophancy is false praise for your own gain.