Word of the Day – Kowtow

Kowtow (verb)

kaow-taow

Act in an excessively subservient manner.

A word that has evolved from the historical action of kneeling and touching the ground with the forehead in worship or submission as part of Chinese custom.

Example sentences

“It’s obscene the way his sycophantic inner circle kowtow to his every whim.”

“She has been jailed because she refused to kowtow to a government demand that would make any independent reporting virtually impossible.”