How to pronounce sycophancy

sycophancy is most commonly pronounced "sick uh fuhn see" (/ˈsɪkəfənsi/). This is the widely-used reading among engineers, though edge cases exist.

In LLM work, sycophancy is the failure mode where a model excessively agrees with or flatters the user, and it is now a standard eval axis reported in system cards and release notes. Stress falls on the FIRST syllable — SICK-uh-fuhn-see — and the opening "sy" is /sɪ/ like "sick", not "sigh". The tempting si-KOF-uhn-see reading, formed by analogy with discrepancy or despondency, is not recorded in any major dictionary; note also that the adjective sycophantic does shift the stress, to sik-uh-FAN-tik.

Alternate readings you might hear:

• "sick uh fan see" /ˈsɪkəˌfænsi/

Source: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries — sycophancy /ˈsɪkəfənsi/ (NAmE & BrE); Dictionary.com lists /ˈsɪk ə fən si, -ˌfæn-, ˈsaɪ kə-/

Pronouncing project and product names correctly avoids the small but persistent friction of being gently corrected during standups, conference Q&As, and team calls. Hearing the word a few times locks in the right reading better than reading IPA ever will. Pronounce is a community-maintained dictionary — every entry tagged with a confidence level and (where possible) a citable source.