MEANING
1. To show excessive obedience or deference to someone with power.
2. To kneel and bow so deeply that the forehead touches the ground, in a traditional gesture of respect.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- kowtow to authority
- refuse to kowtow
On the page
The editor would not kowtow to donors who demanded changes.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- kowtow
- Past tense
- kowtowed
- Past participle
- kowtowed
- Present participle
- kowtowing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- kowtow
- Present continuous
- am/is/are kowtowing
- Present perfect
- have/has kowtowed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been kowtowing
- Past
- kowtowed
- Past continuous
- was/were kowtowing
- Past perfect
- had kowtowed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been kowtowing
- Future
- will kowtow
- Future continuous
- will be kowtowing
- Future perfect
- will have kowtowed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been kowtowing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: kowtow; kowtows; kowtowed; kowtowed; kowtowing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: kowtows.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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