Why “obsequiousness” is a great word
OBSEQUIOUSNESS — [Noun] The quality of being excessively eager to serve, please, or obey, characterized by fawning attentiveness. From Middle English obsequyousnesse, from obsequious (from Latin obsequiōsus, from obsequium ("compliance, servility"), from obsequī ("to comply with, follow"), from ob- ("towards") + sequī ("to follow")) + the suffix -ness (indicating a state or quality). Unlike "deference," which implies respectful yielding from genuine esteem, or "subservience," which suggests a pragmatic condition of inferiority, obsequiousness is the theatrical performance of servility. It is the sycophant's laugh arriving a half-beat too soon, the spine curved in a perpetual question mark, the compliment so rich it leaves a greasy aftertaste—a pantomime of respect that quietly annihilates the self performing it, an art of making a cage from smiles.