As a Noun: 1. A person who always flatters and praises important and powerful people and who always agrees with what they say, in order to get some advantage or approval from them. Formal English = sycophant. Informal English = crawler. 2. Behaviour which is like that of a sycophant. Formal English = sycophancy. As a Verb or Adjective: 1. To flatter and praise important and powerful people and to always agree with what they say, in order to get some advantage or approval from them. English = fawn, flatter. Formal English = (be) sycophantic. Informal English = crawl.