Surrounded by sycophants, the director heard about the flaw in the design only after the prototype failed.
身边尽是阿谀奉承者，主管直到原型机失败后才听说设计上的缺陷。
Which choice best defines “sycophant”?
C — A servile flatterer.. “sycophant” means A servile flatterer..
Which word means “A servile flatterer.”?
A — sycophant. “sycophant” means A servile flatterer..
sycophant — A servile flatterer.. In Chinese: 马屁精；谄媚者.
sycophant is pronounced //ˈsɪkəfænt//.
Surrounded by sycophants, the director heard about the flaw in the design only after the prototype failed. (身边尽是阿谀奉承者，主管直到原型机失败后才听说设计上的缺陷。)
flatterer, toady, yes-man — all close in meaning to sycophant (A servile flatterer.).
critic — each the opposite of sycophant (A servile flatterer.).
Yes. sycophant is on the SAT Prep Difficult list — the higher-register words that decide the hard questions. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
syco(无花果) + phant(显示) → 献媚告密者。