Home › Glossary › Letter L

lackey

Historical Office
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A male servant, often liveried, who attends to a noble or wealthy person

Detailed Definition
The lackey appears in poetry as a figure of subservience and performative loyalty. Historically visible symbols of their master’s status, lackeys executed errands and displayed wealth. In verse—especially satire—they embody flattery, invisibility, or the absurdity of hierarchy. Poets use lackeys to critique class pretension, explore the psychology of service, or highlight the human cost of maintaining elite appearances.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Restoration satire, the lackey mirrors his master’s vanity with powdered wig; Alexander Pope mocks lackeys in "The Rape of the Lock" as trivial attendants; Victorian poets depict lackeys as symbols of hollow aristocracy; The lackey in Charles Reade’s verse overhears secrets in gilded halls; Lackeys appear in masquerade poems as figures of disguise and deceit; Their livery symbolizes servitude in social critique.
Additional Notes
Lackeys were liveried male servants attending nobles, often young and decorative as much as functional—satirical poetry (e.g., Pope) mocks their obsequiousness; they symbolize servility, class performance, or the theater of aristocracy; their uniforms marked both status and subordination in visual and social hierarchies.
Also Known As
footman servant
Skip to main content