yesmanship

Y4E1S1M3A1N1S1H4I1P3

noun

An atmosphere in which people claim to agree with leadership for political reasons, despite holding other opinions privately.

“Like corruption, yesmanship also pervades the Indian bureaucracy. -Brij Mohan Sharma, K. R. Bombwall, L. P. Choudhry”

Similar
yesmanism
OriginProto-Germanic *skapjaną ← English yesman →
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Meanings

nounyesmanship (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAn atmosphere in which people claim to agree with leadership for political reasons, despite holding other opinions privately.

    Like corruption, yesmanship also pervades the Indian bureaucracy. -Brij Mohan Sharma, K. R. Bombwall, L. P. Choudhry

  2. uncountableThe state of being a yes-man.

    He chose his lieutenants for their yesmanship and promoted according to political loyalty, not seniority or merit. -Dennis Bloodworth

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
yesmanism
Also see
yesmanism

Origin

  1. Englishyesman
  2. Proto-Germanic*skapjaną
  3. Englishyesmanship

From yesman + -ship.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

yesmanship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yesmanship

MLA

“yesmanship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yesmanship. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yesmanship,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yesmanship.

Source: yesmanship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.