Obsequious
— slavish; obedient
Obsequious means excessively obedient or attentive to someone in power, to the point of being servile and undignified. It describes fawning, eager-to-please behavior that is driven not by genuine respect but by a desire to win favor or avoid punishment.
An obsequious assistant agrees with everything the boss says. An obsequious courtier showers the king with hollow praise. The word always carries a negative connotation — it implies that the person has surrendered their dignity and independence in order to please someone above them.
Do you know what Obsequious means?
Answer a question to start building your vocabulary.
Memory Mnemonic
bOB SEE QUIZ US
The keyword bOB SEE QUIZ US comes from how Obsequious sounds when spoken aloud. This pronunciation connection makes it easy to recall the keyword whenever you hear or see the word.
Memory Link
BOB would SEE the boss QUIZ US and immediately agree with everything—completely slavish and obedient!
Picture BOB watching the boss QUIZ US on our work — and the moment the boss looks his way, BOB snaps to attention, agreeing with everything, nodding frantically, slavishly obedient. Visualise BOB practically bowing, rushing to fetch coffee, laughing too loudly at bad jokes — completely surrendering his dignity to please the person in charge. That excessive, spineless eagerness to please is obsequious.
HOW TO MEMORIZE VOCABULARY
There are 3 steps to effectively memorising vocabulary.
Step 1: Derive a keyword from the word based on how the word is spelled or pronounced. Next time you see the word, you will be able to derive the keyword from it because it is based on the word.
Step 2: Form a visual memory link that connects the keyword and the meaning(s) of the word you are learning.
Step 3: Ensure to Visualise the image, see it in your imagination. This is important even if it takes a few seconds.
Usage Examples
- The obsequious aide nodded enthusiastically at every word the CEO uttered, no matter how trivial.
- His obsequious manner around the director made his colleagues lose respect for him.
- The waiter was so obsequious that his constant hovering became irritating rather than helpful.
- She despised the obsequious flattery of people who only wanted access to her wealth.
- The courtiers competed with each other in obsequious displays of loyalty to the new monarch.
Etymology of Obsequious
From Latin obsequiosus, meaning "compliant" or "obedient," derived from obsequium (compliance), from ob- (toward) + sequi (to follow). The word entered English in the 15th century and shifted from a neutral sense of "dutiful" to its current strongly negative meaning of excessively, slavishly obedient.
Synonyms & Antonyms of Obsequious
Synonyms
Antonyms
Common Collocations with Obsequious
You've Learned It. Now Make Sure You Never Forget It.
The mnemonic visualisation above helps you learn this word instantly — no rote memorisation needed. But to move it into long-term memory, you still need to review it a few times.
This is where spaced repetition comes in — it shows you words right before you're about to forget them, so you spend less time reviewing and remember more. After just a few spaced reviews, you'll start recalling the meaning naturally — without even needing the keyword or memory link.
Built In Spaced Repetition
You've learned this word using our mnemonic system — but to truly lock it into long-term memory, you need to review it at the right time. That's where spaced repetition comes in.
Our built-in spaced repetition system shows you words just before you're about to forget them, so you review less and remember more. After a few reviews, you'll recall the meaning naturally — without even needing the keyword or memory link.
Explore Word List
You can explore the Word List for a pack from the dashboard. Once you have selected a pack, just clicks Words
Visualisation Help
Visualising the memory link is the most important step — it's what makes you remember the word on the very first try. Don't just read the memory link. Close your eyes and see it play out in your imagination.
The more vivid and detailed your mental image, the stronger the memory. Every word on VocabularyFast comes with a visualisation audio guide. Just look at the image, hit play, and follow the audio as it walks you through the scene.
This takes only a few seconds but makes all the difference between forgetting a word tomorrow and remembering it for life.
Test Yourself With Quizzes
Quizzes are the fastest way to check if you've truly learned a word. Pick from two modes — see the word and recall the meaning, or see the meaning and recall the word.
Both directions strengthen your memory in different ways. Each quiz is 10 questions, so it only takes a minute or two. Take a quiz anytime to quickly spot which words need more review.
Learn In Focused Groups
Words in each pack are organized into smaller, meaningful groups — not random lists. Each group contains words that share a theme, difficulty level, or frequency of appearance.
This lets you focus your learning on the words that matter most, rather than jumping between unrelated words. Start with the most commonly tested words and work your way through each group at your own pace.
Ready to boost your vocabulary?
Build Vocabulary Now