Crossword Genius

Fawning host supporting sadomasochism (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

smarmy

'fawning' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'host supporting sadomasochism' is the wordplay.
'host' becomes 'army' (both can mean a large number of people).
'supporting' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'sadomasochism' becomes 'sm' (S and M).
'army' after 'sm' is 'SMARMY'.

(Other definitions for smarmy that I've seen before include "Unctuous" , "Slick" , "Bootlicking" , "Oleaginous" , "Conceal oneself" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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