Groveler

/ˈɡrɑvələr/ noun

Definition

A person who crawls or behaves with excessive humility and submission to others.

Etymology

From grovel plus the agent suffix -er, indicating one who grovels. This emerged in English during the 1700s as people needed a word for servile individuals.

Kelly Says

Historical courtiers were literally called 'grovelers' by critics—they'd bow so low and scrape so much that the term became a permanent insult for anyone desperately seeking approval.

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