An unpleasant word for an unpleasant person. We all need characters in our stories and here is one insincere flatterer ready-made. It relates back to 5th century BC Greece and slanderers who brought false claims to the justice system of the day. It’s literal meaning relates to “revealer of figs” or “showing the fig” and causes debate among scholars. Perhaps sycophant came to be used because it was illegal to export figs in Greece and those who made accusations of such abuse were lying; perhaps because shaking fig trees was necessary to get to the figs (not sure how that relates); or because there was a derisive gesture of putting the tongue between two fingers used for informers and this was referred to as showing or giving the fig! Whether referring to informers (a meaning from the past and still in use in France) or just to those who toady and flatter the powerful, the sycophant is rarely on the side of right. Add one to your story, now!
