FreeVocabulary
Kowtow
/ˈkaʊˌtaʊ/ verb mediumTo behave with excessive, submissive deference toward someone in authority.
The new hire refused to kowtow to the office bully, even when it cost him favor.
Memory Trick
Borrowed from Chinese, where it named the act of touching one's forehead to the ground before an emperor — to kowtow is to grovel that low, if only figuratively.