lickspittle
/ˈlɪkspɪtl/
"lickspittle" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lickspittle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fawning toady; a base sycophant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lickspittle · lickspittle · English
lickspittle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lickspittle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɪkspɪtl/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lickspittle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lickspittle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlɪkspɪtl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
lickspittle doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: A compounding: lick (“pass one’s tongue over”) + spittle (“saliva”); the verb may derive by back-formation from the nominal derivation lickspittling (see below). The correct English form is lickspittle, spelled L-I-C-K-S-P-I-T-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1A fawning toady; a base sycophant.
- 2The practice of giving empty flattery for personal gain.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lickspittle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"I've found you out and know you thoroughly, you mean, whining lickspittle!"
"You're a suck, a suck and a lickspittle, that's what you are," said the pale man, his voice trembling with passion.
Etymology
A compounding: lick (“pass one’s tongue over”) + spittle (“saliva”); the verb may derive by back-formation from the nominal derivation lickspittling (see below).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.