How to spell sycophant
sycophant
Sycophant is spelled S-Y-C-O-P-H-A-N-T.
Not psycophant.
Why is sycophant easy to misspell?
The word sycophant begins with a plain S, syco-, and the misspelling psycophant puts a silent P in front of it. Psych- is a familiar opening, but sycophant has nothing silent at the start.
That spelling matches the sound exactly, which is why it looked right. English keeps letters long after the sound has moved on, so the conventional spelling is often the one that looks least like it sounds.
Greek spelling: y for the i sound between consonants, ph for the f sound
What does sycophant mean?
A person acting obsequiously.
Which other words set the same trap?
Where does English spelling come from?
The conventions each language layer left in English spelling, with their sources, are on where English spelling comes from.
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Play today's Daily FiveSpellingIQ is a skill rating for spelling ability, not a clinical or psychometric IQ measure. American English is canonical; common variants are accepted.