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
suppliants
noun
as in supplicants
one who asks earnestly for a favor or gift didn't like being in the position of a suppliant, having to ask her parents to help her pay the rent on her apartment Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- supplicants
- petitioners
- beggars
- pleaders
- requesters
- solicitors
- mendicants
- suitors
- panhandlers
- moochers
- cadgers
- suers
- schnorrers
- askers