Sequacious

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Grammarist

Sequacious is a word that is rarely used, and is therefore confusing to some people. We will examine the definition of the word sequacious, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

Sequacious is an adjective that describes someone who does not have a mind of his own, someone who is easily influenced or easily led, someone who adopts the ideas, goals or prejudices of someone else without thinking deeply about them. Someone who is sequacious is not independent of thought. It is an insult to call someone sequacious, and carries the connotation that the person being described is not very intelligent. The word sequacious is derived from the Latin word sequax which means following or seeking, and the suffix -ous which means tends to. The word sequacious first appeared in the 1630s and originally meant subservient or slavish, an archaic meaning of the word sequacious, today.

Examples

It was in a correspondence with Warner that Rinder describes “a throw away, half line in the middle of a sequacious paragraph,” where he joked about being a TV judge that sparked Warner’s imagination and the process began. (The Times of Israel)

Such a sequacious and sententious story dogs our solutions to poverty today. (The Huffington Post)

After plowing through some names — including Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, “the great Lou Dobbs” and the incomparably sequacious Steve Doocy of “Fox & Friends — Trump caught himself: “I’m in trouble, ’cause I know I left out probably 10,” he said. (The Washington Post)

Silently fixated on the palm of her hand, 13-year-old Sophia Hoffman of Lee’s Summit meticulously traced the word “sequacious.” (The Kansas City Star)