variants
also flunkey
or flunkie
1
as in servant
a person hired to perform household or personal services
since I'm just the flunky who files his papers, I've no idea where he is
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sycophant
a person who flatters another in order to get ahead
a rock star who saw through the phonies and the flunkies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of flunky
Lou’s father runs the town, sort of like a low-level mobster in a mob that only employs flunkies and toadies with nothing better to do.
—
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 13 Mar. 2024
Brennan’s flunkies created a fake online profile to access the network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee, whose Democratic members were at the time investigating the CIA’s torture program.
—Becket Adams, National Review, 9 July 2023
In episode 5, Manfredi viciously killed a mob flunky, Nico, who Tina said had molested her while her father was serving a 25-year prison sentence.
—Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2022
And Julia’s cousin, the feckless Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), is amusing as a flunky for Julia’s demands.
—Natalia Winkelman, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2022
See All Example Sentences for flunky
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 13 Mar. 2024
Brennan’s flunkies created a fake online profile to access the network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee, whose Democratic members were at the time investigating the CIA’s torture program.
—Becket Adams, National Review, 9 July 2023
In episode 5, Manfredi viciously killed a mob flunky, Nico, who Tina said had molested her while her father was serving a 25-year prison sentence.
—Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2022
And Julia’s cousin, the feckless Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), is amusing as a flunky for Julia’s demands.
—Natalia Winkelman, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2022
See All Example Sentences for flunky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flunky
Noun
-
In 2010, a three-part revival of Upstairs, Downstairs aired on British broadcaster BBC One, with Marsh reprising her role as Rose Buck, who had returned to London to run an agency for domestic servants after a period spent nursing her mother in Suffolk.—
Marc Berman,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Few spoke up for the man viewed by many as a lowborn upstart, but Cromwell, his faithful servant, was the exception, petitioning Henry at great risk to his own reputation.—
Meilan Solly,
Smithsonian Magazine,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This is the grim lesson—one that the ambitious sycophants who attach themselves to power have always been slow to learn—of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy, a series of fat, dense novels that filter the reign of Henry VIII through the rise and fall of his Machiavellian advisor, Thomas Cromwell.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Heslov said that Clooney has made sure to keep his old friends close, so he isn’t surrounded by sycophants.—
Thea Traff,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
But framing Paul American as a retrospection on labor, with the boys and their family and their lackeys gassing them up over and over, just isn’t that interesting.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
28 Mar. 2025
-
The current cast is rounded out by Alison Brie, who will play another Skeletor lackey, Evil-Lyn, Idris Elba, who will play the noble Man-at-Arms, and Riverdale's Camila Mendes as Teela, Man-at-Arms's daughter and He-Man's right-hand woman.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
21 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelenskyy while Russian leaders rejoiced.—
Maureen Dowd,
The Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2025
-
Of course, being a junior senator and attaching your name to legislation that has little chance of being enacted—none of those have bills passed—is very different from being Vice-President and chief lickspittle to Trump.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
22 July 2024
Noun
-
Now, Amy Borghesi is charged with stealing cash from school fundraisers throughout her two-year employment as an administrative assistant at Murphy Elementary School, according to school officials and court documents filed on April 15.—
Kate Linderman,
Kansas City Star,
17 Apr. 2025
-
In October, Microsoft added support for Anthropic’s Sonnet model in its GitHub Copilot assistant, and weeks later, some programmers reported that Cursor was preferable to Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot.—
Jordan Novet,
CNBC,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
But the joke’s on us — Republican senators, who are the only players with any real power to stop them, have simply decided not to, all so that President Camacho can play at government with his favorite suck-ups.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2025
-
Sara Fischer, Dave Lawler Dec 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy Media's suck-up moment Fearing political retribution and strained by new business challenges, media companies that once covered President-elect Trump with skepticism — and in many cases, disdain — are reconsidering their approach.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
As of this writing, tens of thousands of Americans in government roles have already been fired by Elon’s tech toadies.—
Kara Swisher,
The Atlantic,
9 Mar. 2025
-
But at the end of the Cold War, state sponsors and their toadies lost ground.—
Audrey Kurth Cronin,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Dec. 2011
Noun
-
Five months later, PenaVega shared the devastating news with her fans and followers.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2025
-
After the fourth time of a positive fan interaction, Adell began to consider making the song available to the public.—
Taylor Crumpton,
Essence,
14 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flunky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flunky. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share