kowtow

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Smaller domestic military budgets also reduce the need for companies to kowtow to politicians by maintaining unprofitable operations in their districts or supporting civilian projects.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

Zara doesn't automatically kowtow to workplace hierarchies, either.

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2023

He’s also asking for more streamlining in zoning to combat the rampant NIMBYism that prevents more shelters and interim housing, and that some elected leaders kowtow to on a regular basis.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2022

And she was, indeed, defined by a steely independent streak that did not kowtow to outsiders, whether established civil rights figures or the leader of the free world.

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2021

But watching him kowtow to the grocer made me know it wasn’t so.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals