suppliant
1 of 2noun
sup·pli·ant ˈsə-plē-ənt 
: supplicant
suppliant
2 of 2adjective
1
: humbly imploring : entreating
a suppliant sinner seeking forgiveness
O. J. Baab
O. J. Baab2
: expressing supplication
upraised to the heavens … suppliant arms William Styron
William Styron suppliantly adverb
Synonyms
Noun
- petitioner
- pleader
- solicitor
- suitor
- supplicant
Adjective
- beseeching
- entreating
- imploring
- pleading
- prayerful
- soliciting
- supplicant
- supplicating
- supplicatory
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun didn't like being in the position of a suppliant, having to ask her parents to help her pay the rent on her apartment Adjective the suppliant thief pleaded for a second chance
Recent Examples on the Web Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 21 Aug. 2021 It was thought that Betelgeuse was bigger than the orbit of Jupiter in our Solar System, but recent studies suggest that the red suppliant star is about a third less than that at about 750 the radius of our Sun. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 June 2021 William pays price for grabbing The reaction of the male to his suppliants varies. National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019 Part of the progress, according to Mr. Selee, is a reaction against President Trump’s Mexiphobia, but the underlying influences are long-term and irreversible: Mexico is no longer a feeble suppliant but a potent, necessary partner. Felipe Fernández-armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Noun
Like other Te Deums, the work is both laudatory and suppliant, petitioning the divine for continued mercy. Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 21 Aug. 2021 It was thought that Betelgeuse was bigger than the orbit of Jupiter in our Solar System, but recent studies suggest that the red suppliant star is about a third less than that at about 750 the radius of our Sun. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 June 2021 William pays price for grabbing The reaction of the male to his suppliants varies. National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019 Part of the progress, according to Mr. Selee, is a reaction against President Trump’s Mexiphobia, but the underlying influences are long-term and irreversible: Mexico is no longer a feeble suppliant but a potent, necessary partner. Felipe Fernández-armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018 Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English suppliaunt, suppliant "person making an appeal, petitioner at law," borrowed from Anglo-French, noun derivative from supliant, suppliant, present participle of sopploier, supplier "to bow down, submit, beseech, petition" (continental Old French sopleier), going back to Latin supplicāre "to seek the goodwill (of a person wronged) with peace offerings, supplicate"
Adjective
borrowed from Anglo-French supliant "humbly submissive" & Middle French suppliant "supplicating," from present participle of supplier "to beseech" — more at suppliant entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1
suppliantly
adverb
as in politely
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- politely
- courteously
- mousily
- civilly
- bashfully
- diffidently
- shyly
- timorously
- fearfully
- respectfully
- timidly
- servilely
- self-deprecatingly
- obsequiously
- lowly
- deferentially
- sheepishly
- humbly
- subserviently
- submissively
- hat in hand
- abjectly
- meekly
- modestly
- meanly
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- boldly
- proudly
- swaggeringly
- brazenly
- loftily
- brashly
- arrogantly
- pompously
- contemptuously
- imperiously
- presumptuously
- pretentiously
- audaciously
- scornfully
- fearlessly
- pridefully
- haughtily
- superciliously
- huffily
- recklessly
- self-importantly
- saucily
- rashly
- rudely
- uppishly
- disrespectfully
- impertinently
- disdainfully
- discourteously
- impudently
- impolitely
- ungraciously
- uncivilly
- bitchily
- put to sea
- put to shame
- put to sleep
- put to the sword
- put to the test
- put to use
- put together
- put together with
- put two and two together
- put two fingers up at someone
- put under the microscope
- put up
- put up a brave front
- put up a front
- put up a good front
- put up a good/brave front
- put up or shut up
- put up to
- put up with
- put us on notice
- put wise to
- put words in someone's mouth
- put words in/into someone's mouth
- put words into someone's mouth
- put years on