Obsequious means servile, excessively obedient, overly-eager to please in a groveling manner. Obsequious enters the English language in the fifteenth century meaning prompt to serve, derived from the Latin word obsequiosus which means compliant, obedient, and from the Latin word obsequi meaning to accommodate oneself to the will of another. Obsequious behavior goes beyond compliance or obedience; it carries an unseemly connotation.
From Merriam-Webster:
An obsequious person is more likely to be a follower than a leader. Bear in mind that the word comes from the Latin root sequi, meaning "to follow." (The other contributor is the prefix ob-, meaning "toward.") "Sequi" is the source of a number of other English words, too, including "consequence" (a result that follows from an action), "sequel" (a novel, film, or TV show that follows an original version), and "non sequitur" (a conclusion that doesn’t follow from what was said before).
From Macmillan Dictionary:
Too eager to please someone, in a way that does not seem sincere
NB: not to be confused with obsequies, which are funeral rites
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