kowtow
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
-
to touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., especially in former Chinese custom.
noun
verb
-
to touch the forehead to the ground as a sign of deference: a former Chinese custom
-
(often foll by to) to be servile or obsequious (towards)
noun
Other Word Forms
- kowtower noun
Etymology
Origin of kowtow
First recorded in 1795–1805, kowtow is from the Chinese word kòutóu, literally, “knock (one's) head”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Smaller domestic military budgets also reduce the need for companies to kowtow to politicians by maintaining unprofitable operations in their districts or supporting civilian projects.
Bennett argued presciently that by kowtowing to radicals, “a great university was brought low by the very forces which modern universities came into being to oppose: ignorance, irrationality and intimidation.”
It kowtowed to every fashionable agenda to protect its independence.
Those early signs of kowtowing were bad indicators that the members of Youngstown State University’s faculty union just couldn’t get behind.
From Salon
"A kowtowing of the East towards the West is not a rising East."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
