Tudor & Stuart · insult · noun
Lickspittle
LIK-spit-ul /ˈlɪkspɪtl/pronunciation given by a dictionary
First recorded1669
1669 (sources disagree)
A fawning toady, a base flatterer who will lick up another's spittle to win favour. The image goes back to the older phrase 'lick (someone's) spittle', recorded in the first half of the 1600s.
Where it was first recorded
Dated by Merriam-Webster (1669), which does not name the work.
Also spelled: lick-spittle
In its own time
To hear his lickspittles speak you would think that a man of great and versatile talents was a miracle.
Today
Modern exampleThe minister arrived with his usual crowd of lickspittles nodding at every word.
Fine to use; a sharp but clean insult for a sycophant, common in political writing.
Questions
What does lickspittle mean?
A fawning toady, a base flatterer who will lick up another's spittle to win favour. The image goes back to the older phrase 'lick (someone's) spittle', recorded in the first half of the 1600s.
When was lickspittle first used?
It is first recorded 1669 (sources disagree).
Can you still use lickspittle today?
Fine to use; a sharp but clean insult for a sycophant, common in political writing.
Sources
- lickspittle — Merriam-Webster
- lickspittle — Online Etymology Dictionary
- Lick-spittle — Murray's New English Dictionary (OED1), via WEHD
- lickspittle — Dictionary.com (Random House Unabridged)
- Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 ed.) — Francis Grose (Project Gutenberg #5402)
- lickspittle — Wiktionary
Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: attested — found in the dictionaries and texts listed above