Groveller

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual characterized by their undue submission to authority or higher status figures
2. Someone who behaves with exaggerated humility or servility to please a superior
3. A person who shows overly submissive attitudes hoping to gain advantage from those in power

Etymology: The verb "grovel" is the older of the pair, and the agent noun "groveller" was built from it by adding the English suffix "-er", which marks someone who performs an action. The verb itself is tied to a physical posture: to grovel was to lie face down on the ground, the body pressed flat, and the word's movement from the floor to the flatterer's bow is the heart of its story. Its history in English is simpler than its sense. The "-er" ending comes down through Middle English from Old English, where it was used the same way to name people by what they did, so a groveller is literally one who lies low. The English suffix is also what separates the spelling forms, since "groveller" with a double "l" is the British standard while "groveler" with a single "l" is the American one. Nothing in the source ties "grovel" to a specific first-use date or author, so the emphasis falls on the physical picture and the suffix that turned an action into a person.

Synonyms: fawner, toady, sycophant, flatterer, brown-noser

Antonyms: critic, opponent